Dead Space: Cast In Shadows
by Nevara Alyss
Summary: A survivor of the Ishimura follows Isaac, unable to say anything but willing to help behind the scenes.  Someone needed to survive to tell the story.  She was going to make sure it was him.  Rated M for Violence, Language and anything else I want.
1. Prologue

Screams reverberated off the metal walls of the USG Ishimura. The sounds of tearing flesh and strewn garments filled the corridors and wreaked the area with their pungent aromas from floor to ceiling. _Mom, Dad, dead._ We were lucky enough to be assigned in the same place for once.

"It's the trip of a lifetime," they told me before they left for deep space.

"Trip of a lifetime, ha!" I muttered to myself.

My throat burned from restrained tears. The urge to scream was not far off. That was a lifetime ago, though. Three hours of hell and I've survived this long. It was shocking; even to me. Communications were down. The bridge had been cut off from the rest of the ship, but there were still people moving around. At least I had hoped they were people. If there were survivors I couldn't say at that point. In the very far distance I can hear gunfire. It was intermittent but still there.

_Should I stay or should I go?_

I was not a fighter. The security forces must have been looking for others. Hopefully they would get to me before another one of those monsters found me. I don't know if I can keep up with this. My luck would finally run out when I needed it most. The scampering noises I heard from above didn't help the situation much, but I was so petrified with fear and anguish. Terror didn't sum up what's going on in my head at this moment.

I looked at the faces of my parents. Morphed and contorted. Those were not my parents. I didn't know how long they hadn't been. These things with their jagged teeth and scythe-like claws replaced what I knew of them.

"Oh fuck! What if I've lost it? What if it's me that murdered them in a fit of insanity?" The words trickled out with little doubt.

The room was in shambles. The walls were painted in blood and its rotting putrescent smell was inescapable. No matter how I inhaled it was there invading my senses. My body was racked with an insurmountable amount of pain as I slowly edged my way from the corner. My hands were coated in blood. Was it mine or theirs or a mixture of the two? I examined my jumpsuit. My blood smeared name tag barely showed my name.

_Ondrea Markum_.

Ondrea Markum was dead. She had to be. I felt for holes in my body and begged the powers that be that I came out of my attack unscathed. It was then that I noticed the puncture wound in my shoulder. I had been in fact injured; the only thing that kept me unaware was the surge of adrenaline surging through my veins.

I don't remember how I fought or how I managed to get away, but here I sat, frantically trying to control myself from placing the gun to my head to end it all.

* * *

_"Ondrea, we need you to repair some couplings down on the flight deck." Beckett said, as he read off the roster for the daily maintenance. "After that you'll need to repair some of the interfaces in flight control."_

_It was a pretty standard day, if you'd have asked me. Being one of the only female engineers on the Ishimura was pretty interesting. The day crew was comprised of six men plus myself and made for interesting banter in the lounge after out shift had ended. There was a lot of competition between us, but it broke up the monotony of the work. I was a second in command, but still an underling compared to the other officers._

_As roll call finished, we exited the room and parted ways. Today we were cracking the planet and everything had to be running just so. The tasks seemed simple enough. It would take me a good part of the day, but it was always implied that I got the more difficult tasks because of my scores and not my gender._

_As I walked down the hallway I bump into familiar faces. Some cheerful, others less so, more distressed or they anticipated something. _Probably popping the cork_, I thought to myself. It was always a stressful time in the interim. The Unitologists were muttering about some relic pulled from the surface hours ago. I wasn't concerned, I didn't believe in that nonsense. The concept of transcendence and living forever was laughable. Heh. What a joke._

_Others spoke of a "wrath of God" situation happening down on the colony below us. People were dying; violence was at an all-time high. Again, it didn't concern me. As long as it wasn't up here then I had nothing to worry about._

* * *

_Famous last words now that I think about it._

Maybe they should have heeded the warning better. My shoulder continued to throb. The shock and nausea that appeared when the adrenaline dipped back to normal made my insides turn in knots. I tried to keep it together. Just for the sake of survival, for the sake of my own sanity. I grabbed my cigarettes from my pocket and lit one. It was something, anything to stave off the urge to puke; something to take my mind off the incessant whispering in my head.

_Make us whole..._

"Fuck making us whole!" I yelped. I looked around to see if out my outburst had been noticed.

I wanted to put a fucking hole in my head just to make it stop. It was subtle, but I could feel it; like a tingling at the back of my skull. I took a drag off of my cigarette and flicked it at the corpses laying just feet from me.

"You need to move," Mom's voice cut through the voices on loop.

"I can't," I muttered.

"You have to," Mom's voice became more insistent.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't go anywhere," I grumbled.

I'd given up; resigned myself to death.

"You need to make it to the flight deck," she said.

"And do what?" I ask.

There's nothing no response. Just the sounds and whispers again.

I glanced around the room one last time and stood, dusting off the fine lint from my flight suit. The windows were shattered out of my once quaint domicile. The thought of crossing the ship to get to the flight deck was a joke. It was a suicide run at best.

"I thought you were stronger than that," Beckett's snarky tone made me jump.

"Fuck you, Chris," I remarked.

"Is that the best you can come up with?" He retorted. His jabs fell on deaf ears. "It's not that bad."

"Which part? Getting impaled, brain fucked, or losing my mind?" I asked caustically.

"Take your pick," Chris snorted.

"I don't have time for this."

"Then go," he whispered. I knew he wasn't there, but his voice and stale breath hit my ear as if he was. "Make us whole."

That damn phrase again. Insistent, annoying and droning. It was like dealing with that obnoxious doctor earlier.

* * *

The cold sterility of the medlab was blindingly bright. I sat on a gurney, my hand draped in gauze, waiting for the doctor to come in. The blood slowly dripped from my wound, splattering on the floor and splashing tiny sprinkles on the deck. I could see the small trail leading from the door to where I was. It wasn't that bad, just an accidental gash with a tool.

The lights flickered once and the room went black.

My head throbbed and ached but the pitch dark incredible. The lights returned and I reeled at the shocking pain that pierced my skull. I shut my eyes tight, and hoped that my shift would hurry up and end so I could rest again in solemn confines of darkness.

"So what happened here?" A female in a cheery voice asked.

"What's it look like? I cut myself," I answered without opening my eyes.

"Let me take a look," she responded without skipping a beat.

She lifted my hand and pulled away the gauze. She paused and sighed.

"How'd that happen?"

"I was working and my hand slipped across the blade," I answered. "It's not that bad really."

I opened my eyes and watched her shake her head at me.

"You're going to need something to stop the bleeding," she remarked. Her cool and calm demeanor reminded me of my mother from when I was a child.

She pulled up a tray and stool and sat down in front of me. She slowly wiped away the blood with a noxious astringent. The tingling and burning made me bite my lower lip.

"So, you're new here. How do you like it?" she asked.

She picked up a new piece of gauze and continued cleaning.

"It's interesting, I'll give it that much."

"You're an engineer?" she questioned. "There aren't many female engineers here." Her attempts at small talk were grating my nerves, but whatever got her to finish up and let me get back to my job, I was willing to acquiesce and answer. Anything to take the pain from my head. She looked at me for a moment and then at the needle on the tray. "I need to give you lidocaine for the sutures."

"Just stitch me up. I don't need to be poked more than necessary," I spat.

* * *

Reports were scattered about hostiles on board and the utter insanity that was taking over the crew. The medlab was one of the first places to fall. Communication was scant at best. A lot of static and buzzing broken up by "shoot them in the limbs". It was an absurd declaration to be made over the system, but with visuals down worse than audio, I was lucky enough to get that out before being attacked myself.

I rubbed my shoulder, the blood oozed from the wound seeped into the bandage in my hand. I poked my head outside. There was no noise. No screaming, no gunfire, no hissing and slithering through the ducts. The entire area was an eerie scenario filled with horrific silence.

"Ishimura... Kellion... respond," the crackled voice called over the comm and shattered the dead air. I had completely forgotten that I had tuned in my radio to the receiver for testing.

"Yes we're here," I harshly whispered into the radio. I dialed the volume down to keep from attracting more undesirable attention. The message repeated once then twice.

They couldn't hear me. I had to go to the flight deck. I had to tell them to leave. Flee. There was nothing for them here. I grabbed my pistol and opened the door. I slowly stuck my head out of the broken portal and looked down both ends of the corridor. _Nothing_. A warning klaxon blared in the distance but it was coming from the opposite direction that I intended to go in.

"Bye Mom and Dad, I'll be back later." I told them as if it were anything but routine.

_Talking to corpses_.

Maybe I was more insane than I thought I was. I took my first steps out and stopped. I thought I heard something. Whispering? Scrapping on metal? I needed to escape with as little noise as possible. I had limited bullets and limited time. Even if I didn't have the option of saving myself from this hell, I would make sure that they didn't enter it either.

A jolt of pain wrapped around my brain. The shrieking and wailing slammed to the front of my mind.

_Make us whole... Make us whole... _

I fell to my knees, overcome with pain. My mind was dizzy with agony that overshadowed the violent pulsating in my shoulder. A cold breeze hit my back and I quickly turned around. I noticed the cold sliding down the side of my back. I couldn't worry about it now. I'd have find a first aid kit when I got to the flight deck.


	2. Of Flesh and Blood

Nothing made sense anymore. My mind wasn't my own. It had been invaded by whatever nastiness had decided to dwell in it. Maybe the unitologists were right. Those that sinned would pay for it in the end. I did not envy them, though. They were willingly the first to go. On bended knee they vowed themselves to the creatures one by one. Still they screamed and bled and fell. Their metamorphoses complete as they turned into the lumbering constructs that screeched and terrorized the hallways.

As I ran though the hallways, I can see nary a one of them once the transformation is complete. They would scurry away to some clandestine destination and then I was alone again. I back tracked through the concourses towards the flight deck; when it dawned on me: they have paid me no mind since I ran. Others had fallen before me with whole packs of them devouring them.

I rounded a corner near the last tram station and stopped. I checked my pulse; it was still pumping as strongly as ever. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat on my heels. Hidden in the darkest shadows, I tried to catch my breath. It wasn't too much farther.

_If I could just close the bay doors, they won't be able to get in. They'll have to leave us adrift._

"That's not the plan," the annoying voice chimed in from the darkness beside me.

"It's going to have to do," I muttered, as I began to peel the gauze from my hand.

"Ondrea?" Beckett's voice joined the fold.

They were all disembodied voice floating around in my head.

"What Chris?"

I shouldn't have provoked them into a conversation.

"You need to help," Beckett answered.

"No, I need to make sure no one else goes through this."

"Help him then," the annoying voice continued.

"Nicole's correct," Chris agreed.

I closed my eyes and hoped that the throbbing, which had continued to grow worse would at least ebb a little so I could do what I wanted. My one last task. The pain subsided abruptly and I open my eyes. There they stood in front of me: that annoying little blond medical officer and Beckett. Each one's eyes black as coal as they stared at me.

_Now I know I'm losing it. I saw you die, Chris._

"We need you," Nicole explained.

"You're dead, too, I take it?"

She said nothing, just stared blankly at me. It was chilling to see those eyes looking down on me.

"Help him," Nicole repeated. If she was dead, she was just as annoying as when she was alive.

"Help who? Do what?" I screamed. The frustration was building in me so much that I jumped up ready to lunge at them. "If this is such an important task: why can't I fucking do it? Why does anyone else have to be involved?"

"It is not the path you are to take," Chris answered in a monotone voice.

"You will know who and what when it is time," Nicole acknowledged. "Calm yourself. You are doing something very important."

"And what's that?"

"Making us whole," the pair said in unison.

I stormed up to them and stared them both down. My jaw clenched in ire of that damn phrase. How many more times did it have to be drilled into me? I didn't want to do it. I didn't want any part in their little plan.

"Yeah, well go fuck yourselves."

I turned from them, disgusted by the sheer idea of allowing some unbeknownst passerby find their way here just to be torn limb from limb, and lit a cigarette. When I glanced back to say something to them again, they were gone and I was alone again.

"Fuck," I muttered. "Can my day get any worse?"

"Quarantine procedures have been activated. Contaminants loose on levels 1A, 1B. Hull damage on…" The computer system chimed on, rambling off the various sections of the ship.

"Damn it!" I yelled, as I threw my cigarette to the deck and sprinted towards flight control on the flight deck. I slid through doors before they slammed shut and the control console went dead. I could only hope that it would keep them out and the damage that had already been done wouldn't befall them as well.

I ran up the stairs and opened the door. I was greeted to a single corpse sitting at the controls. I walked over to him and examined the wounds that appeared to be self-inflicted. The only thing that appeared to be strange evidence was the cryptic writings that were all over the walls. I shoved the man out of the way and sat at the control panel.

"They're here," Chris remarked from beside me.

"Just in time," Nicole stated with a smirk.

Their voices seemed to revel in the danger that these people had no idea about.

I tapped on the control panel and tried to close the doors to the hanger, but I couldn't. Error messages popped up and alarms start to blare in ear piercing shrieks.

"You can't save them from what awaits them," Chris said with sadistic glee.

"Let them go!" I yelled. "I'll do it!"

"No!" Nicole snapped.

"Then I'll just have to warn them myself," I scoffed. My determination didn't wane. The pain didn't either. I jumped from my seat to meet the group, took two steps, and collapsed to my hands and knees. I gasped; the pressure was so intense I could hardly breathe. It radiated through my body in paralyzing waves. I fell to my stomach and felt Chris' boot roll me on to my back. The ceiling swirled above me and I couldn't look at a fixed point for too long. "What are you doing?" I choked out with labored breath.

"Making sure you don't interfere with what has to be done," Nicole answered.

A faint smile crept across her face. _The bitch was actually enjoying this. _She leaned over me and stared. Her black eyes peered right through me and into my soul. Chris stood over me and watched. His own amusement could be felt.

"Impact imminent," the computer warned.

"Please…" I moaned. The pain and screeching in my head grew in intensity. "Just kill me then."

"This is not the end of your story," Chris stated as he stooped down and brushed my hair from my face. I could actually feel it: the icy cold flesh caressing my forehead. He stopped and the evil maniacal grin that once was there was replaced by a look of caring. "You know I always liked you."

"It's an odd time to be bringing that up."

"I know," he cooed. I felt vulnerable as he looked down on me and I was powerless to move. "You were always a very odd sort. You never quite fit in. That's what I liked about you."

Nicole grumbled to herself about our interaction. Her arms were crossed and her face was lifeless and rigid as if rigor mordis had set in. She rose and walked towards the window and stared for what seemed like an eternity. She turned back to the two of us; her features were less hard than they were before. "They're exiting the ship."

"Please, Drea," Chris begged.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Not her, however, that cold-hearted bitch could rot for all I care.

"If it'll give you peace," I sighed, finally giving in to his pleas. As soon as I had agreed to aid their cause, the pain subsided and the feeling of control returned. I sat up quickly, becoming dizzy and gasping for air. I slowly rose to my feet and looked at Chris. His once black eyes took on the natural azure that he had in life. "What do you need me to do?"

"Come here," Nicole beckoned me to the window and pointed. I stood up beside her and saw the crew of the small craft start towards the door. In the rear stood a man looking around and then began to follow of them towards the flight lounge. "Him."

"Him?" I queried. I'm confused by the man. "What about him?"

"He's the one," Chris answered softly in my ear.

"What do you need me to do?"

The duo grew silent and looked at each other and back at me. I felt their dead eyes looking me over. I bit my lip as my comfort level dipped to depths I never thought possible.

"Keep him alive," Nicole finally answered.

"Whatever you do, you cannot be seen," Chris stated rapidly as if to make it a dire requirement to keeping this stranger alive.

"What happens if I am?" I asked. My breath hitched as my heart began to feel as if it was being crushed by an invisible weight.

They didn't answer. Whether they really had the answers themselves or not, the looks they shot at me fill me with dread. I nodded with acceptance and rubbed the sweat from my forehead. An exaggerated sigh escaped me as I sat down in the chair and began to clip my hair back. I glanced at the two of them and shook my head. Contemplating what I should do and what was actually feasible were two very different beasts.

"We'll help you however we can," Chris mumbled as if he not wanting to alert Nicole to his admittance. He looked me over one last time and frowned.

"What?"

I was unsure of why there was a change in expression or demeanor.

"You should take care of yourself," he responded before walking towards the door.

Nicole knelt beside me. Her eyes were a normal humanoid color now that shimmered slightly when she tugged on my jacket urging me to remove it so she could inspect the obvious hole in my shoulder. I obliged her in an attempt to not to make her angry again. I unbuttoned my jacket with shaky hands and pulled it off. She eyed the deep puncture in my shoulder and spun me around to see the other side without any warning. She touched it gently and I reeled in pain. She looked to Chris who had stopped at the door to see what was unfolding.

"It's a through and through," she stated.

"And? What am I supposed to do about it?"

"Get a first aid kit and wrap it. When you get back to the medlab disinfect it and cauterize it," she answered. She stood up and nodded to Chris and began to follow him to the door. "You need to leave him a message. The bigger the better. The necromorphs will be here soon for them. If he doesn't know what to do, they will kill him. When you complete that task, get over to security and hack the computer there. You should be relatively safe there. Use it to watch and help when needed. The cameras will be out in most of the places, but I'm sure you'll find a way around that."

"Communications will be up when you get there so you can listen in," Chris continued. "Upload it to your RIG and we'll do the rest.

"I got it."

"Just don't be seen at any cost," he repeats with more insistence.

"How am I supposed to get over to him without being seen and leave him a message?"

For all their knowledge they couldn't explain it. They themselves had no idea what to do. They looked at each other as if they were conversing between themselves. After several minutes, they looked towards me and crept closer as if they were stalking a wounded prey. I took a couple steps back and bumped the console behind me. I closed my eyes and awaited the doom that seemed to electrify the air as their looks became sinister.

* * *

Time passed and nothing happened. I could no longer hear their footsteps. _Maybe they left. _I waited a couple more seconds before opening my eyes and I started shivering. I breathed in and the air was different now. Ionized and tinted with the pungent smell of iron. I opened my eyes slowly and realized that I was no longer in flight control. I had been standing in the middle of a small room not far from tram maintenance.

"What the hell am I doing here?" I asked out loud to the nothingness.

I waited for a response but never received one. I heard yelling and screaming up above me and through the locked door in front of me. The faint buzzing of flies by a nearby corpse drew my attention from the shadowy corners and I slowly walked towards it.

The man that leaned against the console was nothing but a former shadow of himself. The man was eviscerated. Half of his skin had been ripped away and blood still spilled down the console. I could hear the elevator doors above me close. I smeared my hands in his blood, profusely apologizing all the while as I write my message to the man that was arriving. "_CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS_", I rapidly spelled out. The last bit of knowledge I had gained before everything went dead. I picked up the plasma cutter from beside Anderson, now a former engineer from the night crew, and placed it on the console.

The sound of the lift getting closer told me that I was out of time. I lifted off the ventilation panel and slid inside the duct. It was a really stupid thing to do, knowing all too well that they loved to travel through the ducts. I was out of options. I couldn't be seen. As I replaced the grate over the gaping hole in the wall, the elevator doors opened and out walked the supposed savior. Covered from head to toe in engineering gear, I watched him stop and look around. His face was obscured by the helmet he was wearing.

His breathing was rapid and I could tell that he was scared. Whatever happened up there wasn't good. He looked around the room and caught sight of the writing on the wall. He walked towards it; towards me and I held my breath as I tried to be as invisible as possible.

"What the fuck is this?" he asked as if he knew I was there. He grabbed the cutter and started for the locked door. As he made his way to the bottom of the steps he paused and slowly turned in my direction. I though he could see me. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. Not if it meant his life or mine


	3. Time in Between

As I slid out of the duct and on to the platform to medical, the subtle whispers of people nearby greeted me. I was relieved to find others that had survived this hell doing so well. They were near frantic but hadn't noticed that I'd been standing there but for a few fleeting moments. I could only watch them briefly; their movements were suspicious on the cusp of becoming dangerous, before they noticed I was there.

"Get away!" the man screamed as he pointed a kinesis module at me.

I threw my hands up; stunned by the predicament I had now found myself in. The woman cowered behind him, shivering along with him in terror.

"I'm unarmed," I lied. The butt of the gun prodded me in the back. I took a small step toward them and calmly motioned with my hands for him to lower the device. "I'm a survivor; just like you."

"How can we believe you?" the woman squealed nearing hysterics. "You could be tainted by those monsters!"

I let out a soft chuckle and shook my head. It wasn't the first time the idea of infection had crossed my mind. I looked down at my bloodied jumpsuit and knew that the wound was opened and draining fluid down the side of my body. So the thought was definitely there in the back of my mind, but right now, my main concern was diffusing the situation without casualties.

"I'm not. I'm not," I assured them softly. "Please, put the module down. You don't want to do anything stupid."

The man glanced down at the woman, unsure if he could believe me. I could only wait patiently to see what they had decided. They were whispering between themselves when a sudden jolt of pain shot through my skull. I leaned over, my hand bracing my upper body up with my knee. Whispers in insidious tongues spouted cryptic messages at me. They repeated themselves in a loop. I didn't know what to make of it. My muscles clenched in a painful spasm. I tried to stagger back from them, but I couldn't. My legs refused to move. Without control or thought my hand gripped the pistol from behind my back and fired, hitting the man in the head. His eyes bulged in his skull. The complete look of surprise was on his face as he fell to the ground with a thud.

_Why am I doing this?_

"_You're not supposed to be seen! This is the price that must be paid!" _Nicole's voice whispered in my ears.

The woman shrieked as I started my uncontrolled approach. I could only stare at her, emotionless and unfeeling. My eyes shot over to the corpse and proceeded to stomp mercilessly on it. The sound of his ribs crunching under my boot was sickening and only grew worse the softer his torso became. I glimpsed my reflection in the partition, the face back wasn't mine. Blonde hair, black eyes and a sadistic grin reflected back at me. The woman's wails continued on their crescendo the more damage I created. She called me a monster and I agreed in my heart with her. If I could have stopped, I would have, but I was now a puppet with little option but to comply.

"I'm not supposed to be seen!" I belted through clenched teeth each time my boot punched in to the piece of meat. The spray of blood drenched my skin and misted my skin in beads of red.

I lifted my hand and cracked the butt of the gun across the woman's face. She wailed in pain from the concussion. The sound of her eye socket shattering filled my ears with disgusting dread. The woman's cries grew quiet and I looked down at her; my head cocked out of curiosity to the deafening silence.

_Have I killed her, too?_

A swirling black fog blinded me. It was all encompassing and disorienting. I couldn't breathe through the choking smoke. I gasped as I was crushed by the weight of my own body. My vision dissipated into an impenetrable black and then nothing.

* * *

"Quarantine lifted. Tram systems now operational," the VI's emotionless voice chimed over the PA.

My eyes fluttered opened, the blur of red and starburst white clouded my vision. My head swayed side to side and I pushed up on to my hands. I felt fluid between my fingers viscous and cold my hand slipped and I was back on my back staring at the unreachable ceiling. My clothes were sopping wet with the red coagulating mess. I stood and looked around to get my bearings when my eyes fell on a sign. _Medical._ I shook my head. I had no recollection of what happened. Blood spatter and bodies were strewn across the platform. I heard the rattle of the tram heading in my direction. I turned with just enough time to see it whizzing by, sending a stale breeze to me.

I was half-overjoyed, half-dreading the fact they were going deeper into the ship.

I turned back towards the medical bay. I saw the woman from before unconscious but alive. Her face was covered in blood. I leaned over her to see what happened. I turned to see what had happened to her. She let out a soft moan and I stumbled back in fear. I knew I had to leave her; there wasn't much I could do for her. I shook my head and continued down the steely red hallway while brief flashes from the moments before blacking out told me a choppy tale of what had happened.

I ran down the corridor and headed into the bathroom. Shock crashed on top of me and I couldn't escape it. I started to tremble and a torrent of emotions released. My stomach ached. The pain that accompanied added to the feeling of losing control. I didn't want to lose it. I'd already lost so much and my fear was the last casualty would be some semblance of reality. I began to gag and choke as I sobbed. I felt I was beginning to come undone. I was tumbling down a spiral that I had no way of escaping. It was terror. My hacking turns to dry heaving as unbridled fervor gave way into a frothy bile induced emesis.

"Damn it!" I cried between each purge. I lurched into the sink spattering green gunk from my gut. My fingers searched for the knob with every ounce I had left to muster. "Give me something! Anything!"

Finally, a small trickle of water began to pour from the tap. My hands shook violently as I gathered it in my palms and splashed it on my face. In the flickering light I watched as the pink water swirled around the drain and disappeared, but it did nothing to wash away the dread I had from my past transgressions. I glimpsed my reflection in the mirror and looked at the sullen contours of my face. There had been no evidence of damage done, besides that large fresh blood stain and hole in my shoulder.

Carefully, I stripped out of jacket and dropped it to the floor. As I examined the deep wound the outside looked superficial. Without the right tools, however, I had no idea to what extent the trauma had been inflicted. My fingers pressed gently along the tear in my flesh. It was hot to the touch and the pain was indescribable. The soft glow of my pale skin in the mirror made me look almost dead. I splashed a second handful of water on my face to wake myself from the exhaustion that had begun to eat away at me.

I leaned on the sink and waited till I felt confident enough to continue on my mission.

"Drea," Chris' voice called from down the hall.

I followed it and placed my waning fiath in the spirit of a person I once knew. I looked in both directions when I saw him standing at the end of the hall. He was donned in his engineering gear ready for work. "Come on, Drea."

He motioned for me to follow. In the distance, I heard a low rumble. My eyes glanced up at the ceiling and circled around the corridor until I was focused on him again.

"What was that?" I asked.

"It's alright, Drea. You'll be alright," Chris replied.

He smiled at my nervousness and waved me to come closer. I didn't know whether or not I should, although I had realized he never answered my question. I was hesitant and he knew it. I didn't have the information readily available about the ships systems and where certain death was lying in wait.

"Are you sure?" I queried, unable to move from my spot.

He shook his head and started towards me. I could hear his footsteps on the deck as he closed the gap between us. He chuckled softly with a shake of his head and looked me in the eye.

"For all your brains, little one, you are still a child," he murmured with amusement.

"I have every right to be apprehensive," I argued. "How do I know you aren't going to kill me? What about _her_? She seems more than willing to march me into certain death."

His eyes filled with an untold sadness.

"I told you already. You are important," he glumly said.

He held his hand out for me to take, but all I could do was look at it questioningly. My eyes shot to him and back to his extended hand. I had to believe something and Chris – while alive – had never led me astray before. Slowly, I met his touch. His hand closes around mine gently as if not wanting to hurt me.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To Nicole's office. There's something I think you should see," he answered without skipping a beat.

I walked with him in silence. I didn't want to express my discourse with his idea, but if it was the only way to move forward – I had to take it.

* * *

We entered Nicole's office, where we parted ways. Chris led me to a nearby desk which he sat behind and pushed buttons on a computer and sighed.

"The power's out," I state.

"Just give it a second," he muttered as he pressed more buttons.

The screen flickered to life and cast a dim light into the darkened room.

"How…," I stammered

"I'm dead. Remember?" he scoffed. I looked at him, my heart sinking further into my gut. Of course I knew he was dead. It didn't make the reality of the situation any better. When I didn't reply he looked up at me and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," I grumbled as I took a cigarette out and tried to light it. "So what's this thing you wanted to show me?"

He scrolled through several lists of programs and stopped.

"This," he replied, his finger shot to the center of the screen.

I leaned over him and saw numerous logs between Nicole and a person named Isaac. I took a drag off my cigarette and shrugged. The revelation was not nearly as earth shattering as Chris had led me to believe.

"I already knew about him," I stated and expelled the smoke.

I walked around the desk and peered out the window. A small pack of necromorphs were wandering between the gurneys. At first glance, I should have feared them, but I did not. I stared out at them as they moved. One looked over at me, but kept moving as if my presence was inconsequential. I leaned closer to the glass as it disappeared from view. A second emerged from my peripheral and our eyes locked. In my head a new whispering began to overshadow the already incessant whispering that lingered.

"Chris?" I squeaked meekly."

The sounds of keys tapping on the console stopped and I turned to him. "Could you answer something for me?"

He stiffened slightly in the chair and cleared his throat.

"Shoot," he replied crossing his arms behind his head.

I hesitated. The question was there on the tip of my tongue, but maybe I didn't want to know the answer.

"Am I alive?"

He squinted at me; bemused by the question and chuckled softly.

"What kind of question is that?" he snickered.

"A serious one," I said coldly. "Am. I. Alive?"

His mouth started to open, but he paused and rose from the chair. He stood next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. The pain shot through my arm and caused me to suck in air in response. I instinctively grabbed it in agony and tried to keep the throb from entering my hand.

"You are very much alive," he finally said and returned to his work.

I continued to watch the creatures prowling outside and listened to the clacking of keys. It was after several minutes of ominous silence that an audible grunt escaped him. I came back to his side and looked the screen.

"What's this?" I asked. My eyes looked down a small list of names.

"It's the crew list of the people that were on that ship that crashed," he answered. He paused the scrolling frame and pointed excitedly. "Look at the name."

"So?" I spat, still not as amused as he was about it.

"It's _her _Isaac!" he exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat. "Do you know what this means?"

"Are you even sure this is the same guy? Isaac is a pretty common name," I muttered.

He stared at me and scowled in frustration.

"Yes, it's the same one," Nicole answered from across the room. She looked over Chris in disgust and then turned to me. "You're right, Chris. For all her intelligence: she really is just a child."

"So? What? I'm supposed to save your boyfriend?" I asked sarcastically.

Nicole nodded and disappeared before I could say anything about how ridiculous this whole thing was becoming. I turned back to Chris. He wasn't paying attention to the short lived conversation Nicole and I had partaken in. Instead, his eyes glazed over as he stared up at the ceiling.

"We should go," he announced urgently.

"Why?" I asked.

"He's coming," Chris answered in a barely audible tone.

* * *

We made our way to the door. The growls from necromorphs increased along with the abrupt stopping of boots hitting metal. We stopped and watched Isaac. The sporadic fire from the plasma cutter I'd left him lit up the room in miniscule bursts of illumination. All I could do was smile. I was thankful that he had survived as long as he had.

I hadn't realized I'd been staring staring at the action going on overhead until Chris grabbed my wrist and tugged me along.

"_Stay quiet,"_ Chris's voice whispered in my head.

I resisted; annoyed with being told what to do by him and not getting answers. He stopped and looked at me at a loss.

"Why are you helping me?" I mouthed.

"I'll answer you when we get out of here," he responded with a hard yank.

Two sets of screaming began to crush me. I stumbled around, becoming incoherent to what was going on around me. I looked to Chris, but he was gone and I realized that I am now standing in the middle of the med bay alone.

"Don't be seen!" Nicole's voice echoed like a reminder.

I watched - from beneath the catwalk – a small group of necromorphs charge Isaac. He didn't hesitate to fire on them. He fired one round after another and they dropped. Their heavy masses excreted darkened blood in pools that fall around me. He checked them to see if they were indeed dead and then he glanced at me. I hadn't moved, nor made a sound since I'd hid from him. I was sure he could see me, but there was barely any light from where I was. There had to be a reason why he was looking at me.

Before I could move out of his line of sight, another brood of fiends burst through the vent. He took off away from and around a corner and out of my sight. I heard the sounds of a fight on the other side of a room and made a run for it. I prayed that he would not turn around and backtrack too soon. I rode the lift back to the catwalks and sent it back down and sprinted towards the door. Just before I could make it to safety a blinding flash streaked in front of me and the sound of beam striking the railing beside me rang loudly.

_What the fuck? He's firing on me? He saw me?_

Another shot was squeezed off and I hear him trying to recover the ground he'd lost in chasing me. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

_Why the hell are you shooting at me?_

I made it to the door; my heart rang in my ears as I slammed the panel and dashed through. I made my way back to the fork that I'd seen Chris and continued. My calves throbbed but I couldn't stop. I didn't want him to follow. Chris and Nicole both said I couldn't be seen, but I was. He saw me.I looked over my shoulder to see if had in fact chased me down, but the coast was clear. When I turn back, Nicole was standing in the middle of the hallway.

I tried to stop before running head long into her. I was out of control and couldn't make it in time. Her hand shot up and grabbed me by the throat. Her nails dug into the sides as I struggled to breath. She lifted me off the ground and slammed me into the wall. Eyes, the same hideous black as before stared up at me. I kicked and struggled, her grasp tightened the more I fought.

"I told you not to be seen," she hissed.

"I'm sorry," I whimpered through gasping breaths. "He fired on me; if that's any consolation."

She glared at me. The anger reverberated into me and the shrieking static obliterates my senses. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear. I was going numb from the inside out. She dropped me to floor and I crumple in a heap. My lungs screamed for air. Ragged breathing couldn't be caught and stilled into a normal pace.

"Get to security. They are trying to get into the systems," she ordered me. I nodded. The exhaustion from the constant running and stress was degrading my will to fight. I was submissive to her demands. Defeated. I sighed as I rose to my feet and started to leave. "Here." She slammed a small box into my chest. I look down at it and realize that it was the first aid kit I was supposed to get while in the med lab. My eyes shot back to her inquisitively. "You're just going to have to patch yourself up."

I headed back to the platform, my head hung low. The woman from before was still there, but now she is motionless. I knew she was dead. There was no movement. I apologized remorsefully and entered the tram. There was nothing more I could do here so I pressed the console to go to security. I had held out hope that whoever had survived with Isaac in the first hours hadn't completely worked over the system. I clutched the kit tightly against my chest and waited for the doors to open.

It wasn't a far walk from the platform and the eerie silence was welcome. The slight skittering in the walls didn't faze me now. I knew they were there but I casually continued on as if they hadn't existed. My shoulder throbbed and the blood loss seemed to increase.

I stopped at the door to the security office, hacked it and entered the brightly illuminated room. I collapsed in a nearby chair and sigh. Exhaustion, blissfully consistent closed in around me. I was so tired I didn't want to fight it anymore. My eyes grew heavy, vision blurring and distorting the surrounding monitors. The need for sleep overshadowed the deafening whispers and I was finally at peace.

"Just a nap," I mumbled to myself. "Just a nap."


	4. Reflections

"You could have had a job in the public sector; put your mind to some good use!" Dad yelled at me from across the table. He glanced at the letter I had received and scowled. "How could you go and do this?"

I looked up at him at a loss for words. I hadn't thought that I would get the kind of reaction I was receiving. I thought that he would be proud that I was following in his footsteps. I understood that I was their only child and his ideals weren't my own but the harshness I was drawing was disheartening. I couldn't look at him; the disappointing glares he gave hurt far more than I had expected.

"I'm sorry, Dad," I murmured. My eyes filled with tears. I can't help but feel overwhelmed and like a complete fool for even considering that he might understand. "Does Mom know?"

He frowned at me and shook his head.

"I don't have the heart to tell her," he muttered.

"It's not really that bad, is it?" I asked.

"I wanted you to have something better than going into deep space for months and not being able to settle down," he said as calmly as he could.

"You did it," I pointed out with a slight smile. "You left and went about your job. You love what you do. Why shouldn't I be able to?"

"I missed out on so much. I missed the things that a father should have been there for," he sulked. His hard exterior crumbled as he spoke. "You are brilliant; far more than your mother or I."

"So? I've wanted to do what you and mom did since I was a child. I wanted to see the stars; see things that I've only ever heard of," I snapped. I could feel myself becoming more defensive. "Do you think I took all of those engineering classes, quantum physics; hell even psychology just so I can diddle-fuck with the government?"

"You're twenty-one years old and already have four degrees under your belt." He paused and took a seat in a nearby chair. "I just wanted you to have a life. Start a family. Make something of yourself."

We grew silent. Neither of us knew whether to continue talking in circles or if we should just let it go till we were both more levelheaded. I had my father's temper and was just as stubborn when it came to the opinions of others. I was ready to apologize when my mother came in.

"What's with all the ruckus going on in here?" she questioned looking between my father and I.

It lit a fire in my father the likes I had never seen before. He jumped from the table and handed her the letter. She slowly read it and I could only watch with dismay as her facial expressions changed from confusion to concern. She looked up at me for a second and back down at the letter and sighed.

"Are you sure this is what you really want?" she asked.

Part of me wanted to tell her no; now that I knew how Dad responded. I think, deep down, she wanted me to say it as well.

"I do," I muttered with a slow nod.

She let out another sigh –heavier than the last – and placed the letter down beside her. Her fingers drummed on it as she looked me over. It was hard to be put on the spot while she mulled over certain scenarios in her head. I had felt in my own way I'd let them both down by applying.

"CEC is a good place for someone of your capabilities," she stated finally.

My father and I looked at her for our own reasons – his: frustration; mine: a sense of relief.

"You can't be serious!" he barked angrily. "She's not ready to make such a life altering decision."

"She's of age and well prepared for what is to come. I think she can handle it," she retorted.

"Handle it?" he repeated through clenched teeth. "She hasn't even moved out of the house and no you think she can handle year-long cruises? Just like that?"

"I do." Was all she replied with before walking over and hugging me. "Congratulations. You'll make a fine engineer," she whispered in my ear.

The sweet smell of apple blossom hit me and I felt as sad and secure as any child would in the arms of their mother.

That was two years ago.

I did go through a rough adjustment to deep space travel, but for what it was worth, I learned a lot about myself and others. Socially, I was awkward. More often than not I was one of the youngest people on the crew of many of the planet crackers I served aboard. Most had their own families back on Earth or Mars. Others were getting ready for retirement and the free time that they aspired for. All those that I served under saw me as a child amongst a sea of adults. I was too smart for most, but as naïve as any other person in my position.

Personally, I never had a relationship of any intimate nature. I could easily explain that away by three pieces of evidence. The first: I was an only child, hence they were overprotective. They were picky about the people I hung around. That was fair I could deal with that. I wasn't' the overly rebellious child, even when I was at my worst. I think the most audacious thing I did was dye my hair two colors and with overly conservative parents they frowned upon that for a while. Secondly, I was over intelligent. I finished high school at the age of twelve and most children within my age group found that intimidating. As much as the child psychologists at the schools I went to warned my parents that I would be socially immature, they took it as a tradeoff and pushed me to excel way above the norm. Finally, is probably the fact that I had no time for such things? I mean sure I was interested in boys and all that but to them I was nothing more than a brain child.

Even on my last stint in space before being assigned to the Ishimura, I knew that things were not going to be as they seemed I was always suspicious of the motives of people. I'd asked myself many times why we were going in to a prohibited system. Chris had been the first to tell me I was being paranoid and was probably the worst conspiracy theorists out there. Guess he'd be eating those words now, if he wasn't dead.

_Thanks, Chris. Way to be the hero and get yourself killed._

A part of me blames myself for what happened. If I had just listened and stayed with him he wouldn't have walked into that ambush and been completely ripped apart in a couple of swipes.

* * *

I watched the computer screen while lines of code scrolled up in repeating intervals. The incomplete ship's status reports told me everything I could know about the current condition of the Ishimura. There were definitely problems; big ones. The ship's orbit had begun to decay. Sensor readings were scant - probably due to the fact that most of them were damaged.

"Isaac, you need to get down to engineering and turn on the centrifuge," a man told my charge over video log.

Chris was right: It was easy enough to gain synchronization to their communications. Some of the onboard sensors still worked and I managed to implant a small virus into their systems to cover my tracks.

"I'll head over there now," Isaac answered back.

I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling. Things would have gone so much faster if they knew I was here. Maybe I could have helped. I wasn't doing much here - sitting behind a desk - surrounded by monitors.

"Anyone ever tell you: you look cute when you are frustrated?" Chris chortled. I tapped a couple of keys and tried to ignore him. There was nothing I needed to say to him. As much as he'd tried to help, he was becoming a burden; a liability to my safety. "What's wrong, Drea?" he asked as he knelt at my side.

I glanced over at him and continued typing. I checked the security feeds were I can get them – which wasn't much. I panned through the various sections of the chip. One person was on the bridge pressing on the overhead screen. I was pretty sure that was the person that Isaac was talking to, but I couldn't say for certain. I flipped to another feed and notice something moving in medical. The video is distorted and very grainy; I can't tell if it's a person or a necromorph.

"Is that…" I asked out loud. I was almost overcome with emotion at the shocking discovery. "I found you."

"Hmmm?" Chris muttered and glanced at the screen. He stared at it for a moment and sighed. "What's left of me anyway." He snorted his disapproval and continued to watch me work.

"It's my fault," I state glumly as I quickly flipped to another camera in the medical area. Another man was there. It wasn't someone I was familiar with, but he was alive. He looked up into the camera and a shiver ran down my spine.

"It's not your fault," Chris mumbled but also catches sight of the man on screen. "That's Dr. Mercer. One of the specialists."

We watched as he paced around the room and headed out a nearby door. I try to get to the next camera, but it's out. I have no idea where he was going, but he left in an awful hurry.

"He knows that Isaac is here," Chris responded as he spun me away from the monitors and looked me dead in the eye. "We need to talk."

"What about?" I asked.

He was never this chatty in life so the overabundance of banter we were having was completely unusual.

"Remember what I said earlier?" he queried.

"Which time? You've said a lot of things," I half-heartedly answered.

"That you were important? Ring a bell?" he scoffed.

"I don't have time for this, Chris," I snapped in exasperation and turn back to the screens. I clicked over to engineering and see Isaac. He was in the middle of a fight and I instantly grew rigid in my seat. "Damn it."

"He'll be alright," he assured me. I found little solace in his words. "He's handled himself this long."

"I don't know how he's managed this long," I grumbled.

Inside I was rooting for him. Outwardly, I wanted him to fail so that the Nicole would come back and finish the job.

"He's like you: important," Chris replied. He stood and began to leave the room.

"Chris? Why can't I be seen?" I asked my voice cracking.

He walked back to me smiled.

"It's too soon, Drea. You're not ready yet and neither is he," he answered and points to the screen. My attention is then drawn to what he's pointing at. Isaac was standing in the hall just before the centrifuge. It was the first time I'd seen him without his helmet on. Slowly, I examined him, studied every detail my eyes would allow for and in my utter sheepishness looked to Chris. He just beamed from ear to ear at my reaction. "Something interest you?"

"That's not funny," I growled. "What about Nicole?"

His smile faded abruptly. "Nicole…" He stopped and looked around the room. His whole demeanor changed. The lighthearted expression was replaced by one of panic. "She's got her own plans for him."

"That sounds ominous," I chuckled.

"It is and I'm not comfortable with it, to be honest with you," Chris acknowledged.

"So then this 'stay away from him' thing was your idea?" I questioned. I was becoming worried about both our safeties at this point.

"Yes and no. I can't go into the details right now, but you'll find out soon enough." Chris' voice trailed off and hurried away. He stopped at the door and his shoulders slumped. "I'm doing this to try and save you."

_Save me from what?_

The whispers came back and they were louder than they'd ever been since I first started hearing them. In the din of noise, I noticed a second underlying whisper. My eyes started to blur; my head felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. I fought to maintain focus but my equilibrium started to give way. Flashes of red danced before my eyes and unintelligible text filled my line of vision. I closed my eyes tight and fought the urge to pass out.

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly. The blinding lights from above burned and I groaned in pain. I couldn't explain what was going on with me, but Chris knew. I knew that he also wasn't at my beck and call and that I probably shouldn't be indulging what it was that kept bothering me. I looked at the monitor and small window blinked at me incessantly.

_Centrifuge Online._

It was the first bit of good news that I had received in hours. I stood and stretched the clenched muscles in my body. My boots felt like one tone weights as began to move around the room. Lockers lined the wall behind me. I hadn't done much exploring since I'd been here and resources being as minimal for me should have been my first thing to deal with. Taking stock of such things with everything going on had been the least of my problems. It wouldn't have mattered if I'd lost oxygen to this compartment of the ship. I swung one of the doors open and see the pieces of armor that resembled riot gear.

_Funny. I never thought they might need it._

I grabbed the uniform and threw it over the arm of a chair. My shoulder continued to bleed, but it was much slower than it would be if it wasn't for the bandage. I searched the closet-like room and prayed that Chris wouldn't decide to make an appearance while I was in the middle of changing. I slowly unlaced my boots and kicked them across the room. They tumbled along the floor and stopped at the door. Loud static emanated from behind me. I looked for it and found a small shower room with a single tap running.

"Well, I'll be damned," I grinned. It was a wonder I heard it at all.

I stripped out of most of my bloodied gear and step into the frigid water of the shower. I shivered but took the torment in stride if it meant ridding myself of the taint that was slathered on like a rotting salve. I closed my eyes, refusing to look down at the water turning a bright red. I ran my hands over my arms and up to my hair. The caked mess had a thick film from the coagulated mess.

I didn't linger long and hurried out of the shower. Dripping wet and quaking in the cold, I grabbed the new set of gear and made my way to the long mirror across the room. My top, once white was a bright pink and clung to my thin frame. I hurried and dressed in the oversized uniform and looked myself over briefly. I looked like hell. I was paler than the last time I'd checked; dark circles surrounded deep hazel eyes and the wound had begun to create streaks of red that laced under my skin.

I returned to the computer in disgust and see another message blinking feverishly: _Fuel reserves back online._

I quickly scrolled through the intermittent security feeds and find him. He was standing at the door to the engine room. He was out of breath and panting.

"I wonder what Chris has in store for us," I muttered in a mocking tone at the screen.

As soon as I finished my sentence, Isaac turned around and looked directly at the camera. His head cocked inquisitively. My heart sped up in fear, but he just as quickly shook his head and entered the next room. I tried to get cameras in there, but there was nothing. I was in the dark and I had no idea what was going on behind the heavy doors.

I slammed my hands on the desk in frustration and paced around the room like a rabid animal. I felt so helpless. I checked the clock on the wall and back at the screen in anguish. It felt like an eternity, the unknowing, the throb in my chest wouldn't subside. My eyes shot to the door and I was ready to make a decision on whether to go and get him. A blip on the screen catches my attention.

_Engines activated._

I sighed in exasperation by the amount of stress that he was putting me under. I leaned closer to the screen and urge him to hurry up just so I know he's okay. As if my words compelled him to comply he emerged, covered in blood. I couldn't tell if it's his or if it was that of his foes that seemed to be following him at every turn.

"Isaac, I need you to come up to the bridge…" the man from before called.

"I'll be there in a few, Hammond. I'm on my way back now," Isaac replied.

His voice was unusually calm for whatever encounter he'd faced just moments before. He walked out of the camera's line of sight and I threw my head back in despair. I feverishly clicked from dead camera to dead camera and see him getting on the tram.

I linked to the camera inside and watch him lean against the wall.

"Where are you, Nicole?" he asked out loud.

I'm more shocked, personally, that I was actually getting audio. It's full of static, but just audible enough to understand what was being said. My heart sank. I didn't know why; it just did. I knew he was here for Nicole; the pieces came together just that easily.

"Sucks to be you, then," I growled defensively.

He looked around and stopped. I heard the tram pass on its way to the bridge. The throbbing in my skull decreased for a couple of minutes and a sense of clarity calmed my already shattered nerves. Within seconds, I was back to the full pain that I had come to accept. I rubbed my eyes and waited for them to readjust.

"How are you feeling?" Chris asked from over my shoulder.

I jumped out of my seat and turned on him ready to strike.

"Why the fuck do you do that?" I screamed.

He laughed hysterically and came to an abruptly stop. The seriousness that his visage held made me sit. I lit a cigarette and awaited whatever news he had come to offer me.

"You just seem calm, that's all," he stated. "I didn't mean to scare you."

I rolled my eyes and took a drag off my cigarette.

"You sure seem to enjoy it."

"I don't enjoy any of this," Chris barked. "I just need you to make us…"

"Whole? Yeah, I got that," I interrupted as I flicked my ash. "For fuck's sake quit saying it."

"Alright. It's probably being repeated enough in your head anyways," he smirked.

"Nope, just a jumbled bunch of shit," I remarked, rubbing the ache from my temples.

"Nicole's been toying with him," Chris snorted.

"Really? He came all this way to get her," I replied sadly.

"I know that. She's not the most helpful person," he said.

"Unlike you, I guess?" I jabbed. I furrowed my eyebrows at him playfully.

"Ouch. I'm hurt," he scoffed sarcastically.

"Look, Chris. You are just in my head. I don't know how much help you actually can be," I snapped.

I was fed up with the mind game. Tired of the hoops I had to jump through and for what? Protection?

"I am so much more," he choked out.

The softness that he had turned rock hard, and those fear-inducing eyes stared down at me with cold indignation. I shuttered as he sized me up.

"Don't do anything rash! You're not Nicole," I yelped.

"_I'm _trying to keep you safe. _I'm _trying to save your life. _I'm _trying to help you!" he screamed. "I did doing all of those things and this is what you have to say about it?"

"Please, Chris," I pleaded. I touched his arm and looked him in his eyes. "I know you did all that. I would have laid my life down for you if the roles were reversed. I just…" I scoffed at the thought of continuing. "You were the only friend I had made here and like that you were snatched away. How do you expect me to deal with that now? _I _fucked up. _I _should have listed to you. Not gone home. Not tried to reach my parents. _I _was selfish. _I _should be dead now. Not you."

"Don't say that," Chris snarled. "You're perfect, pure, untainted by man and their desires. You are everything. Isaac might be important for Nicole's cause, but you are everything to everyone involved."

"Way to put everything on my shoulders."

I wanted to defuse the situation, but tensions were running high for both of us.

His arm snaked around my waist and pulled me close. The scent of his after shave was just as pungent as hours before. He placed his head on my shoulder and shuddered. His breath was hot and moist on my neck.

"If it had been any other time, in any other place: I would have made my move," he smirked with a sigh. "I should have done it sooner."

"Chris," I murmured through burning tears.

"No, no, you are too important to be used as some pleasurable experience. It's not for me to take," he sulked as he released me from his grasp. "You won't have to stay here too much longer. Trust me."

I nodded and without a word he disappeared. I flopped back in the chair and sobbed. Why was he telling me these things? His own remorse was tied to "ifs" and "could have beens." I shook the thoughts from my mind. I had to let those go otherwise I'd be bound to the same ideas that he was.


	5. Break Me Down

The hull of the ship groans and shutters under my feet. What the hell is happening out there? I look at the feed and see Isaac walking onto the bridge. He's ready for anything. His own paranoia can be felt through the screen. He disappears out of view and I click to the captain's nest.

"We're having problems, Isaac." Hammond tells him as he continues to work on the panel in front of him. "Now that we've reestablished orbit we're right in the midst of the debris from the crack."

I chuckle hard. Oh, the innuendos that could be made from that.

"So what do you need me to do?" Isaac asks. Annoyance breaks through the normally calm voice of his.

"The ship has defenses against meteor attacks. They are deactivated right now. I need you to get to one of the turrets and make sure we don't take anymore damage than we already have. It might buy me some time to get the system operational." Hammond explains.

"What about Nicole?" Isaac grumbles. "You said you would help me find her."

"Damn it, Isaac. We'll find her. Trust me." Hammond yells.

"Whatever." Isaac mutters as he walks out of the room.

I follow him out and he stops near the escape pods. His helmet collapses down and he rubs his eyes. I can see his determination waning. The once strong man standing beside himself. Alone. Just as I am.

"I'm here Isaac. I've got your back." I whisper to myself.

He trudges on as if a new wind had entered him. He smiles slightly and shakes his head. I write it off as if he was trying to shake off the dread he was feeling. The complete and utter despair that I shared with him was the only thing linking us together.

Nothing is working on that side of the ship. Sensors and cameras are out. Probably due to hull damage. I watch as Hammond punches codes into the computer. I casually come and start typing my own lines of code. The shields would collapse long before the system would could initialize if one person did it.

"You're working awfully hard. Any reason for that?" Chris snorts.

"Why shouldn't I be working?" I grumble. My fingers pain me as I type. I open one pathway and an alarm would sound. _Access restricted. _"Fuck!"

"Relax, Ondrea. You're doing fine." Chris coos. His voice looms directly over me as he watches me work.

I type more code in and find another pathway and another warning flashes across the screen. _Code request not accepted. Please contact administrator._

"There has to be a back door into this." I mutter. I look at shield capacity and it's slowly being chipped away by debris. A large knock shakes the entire ship. I sigh and try to clear my head. If it wasn't for the incessant talking, maybe I could think straight.

"Calm down, you're almost there." Chris urges me on.

I hear his words, but I don't respond. I can't stop I know he's right. I can't screw this up. Fifty lines of code later and I hit enter. _ Access granted. _I laugh out loud, excitement fills me for my accomplishment. "I'm rerouting secondary power to the shields" I say. "It won't be much, but it'll be something." I look over at the work Hammond had done. "Automated firing systems are back online." I tell Chris.

He claps and places his hands on my shoulders. "Great work, Drea."

I exhale and lay my head back against the chair. I look up at him and Chris looks down at me. He leans down and kisses me on the forehead and smiles. Our joy is short lived as a female voice comes through.

"Isaac, we've got contaminants in food storage. Something is turning toxic." She states as if it wasn't that big of a concern.

"I'll go and check it out." Hammond cuts in.

"I need you to go back to the med lab and see about making something to purify the air." The woman snaps.

I grow irate with the tone of her voice.

"He isn't some fucking errand boy," I growl.

"I am not some fucking errand boy," Isaac says at the same time as I do, in perfect sync. I look at Chris and he just nods. He knows exactly what is happening. I am more in shock over the fact that we had the same thought at the same time. "I mean, I'm on my way."

"You can go to the bridge now." Chris states.

"Why do I want to do that?" I ask. "There's nothing there. Most of the systems are shot."

"It'll be fun." He answers with an unsettling smile on his face.

"Fun?" I question. It isn't the word I would use in this situation.

"Ah, it'll be much more than that and you know it." Chris jabs with a smirk and a wave.

"You're serious?" I stammer.

"Of course I am. Don't you want to get out of this box?" He asks. "You'll need a weapon." I look at the gun on the desk and go to pick it up. "That's not going to work, in this case."

"Well what the fuck do you expect me to have? There wasn't anything in here to begin with." I snap. I ignore his warning and slide the barrel of the gun into the small of my back.

"We'll find something don't worry." He responds as he tries to urge me to the door.

"Why all of a sudden do I need to worry about being armed? The necromorphs never bothered me before." I question. It was a bigger quandary to me than anything. If they were that much of a threat, why didn't they just bust through the vent and lop off my head?

"They're getting anxious." Chris answers. His words are grim. It is an ominous revelation. Anxiety over what? Me? Isaac?

"What about watching Isaac? That's my job isn't it?" I argue. They drilled it into me so many times I had become protective of my charge.

"Don't worry." He tells me. "Nicole's taking care of him."

"I wouldn't trust her with a dead goldfish." I mutter.

He laughs out loud. The sound is overwhelming. For someone as dead as he was, he was easily amused by the stupid comment. It's so loud and uncomfortable that I start laughing as well.

"But you trust _me_? I'm really no different than she is." Chris remarks with a smirk.

"Apparitions? My fucking mind snapping under the stress? A possible coping mechanism for everything I've been through? Yeah, I can see how you two could be the same." I snort. "You aren't the same. Complete and total polar opposites."

"Call it what you will. Insanity. A mental block. A projection of both sides of your own psyche. I'll just take it as a compliment." Chris beams. "Are you ready?"

I nod and walk towards the door, stopping only to slip my blood caked boots on. He opens the door and I step through. The platform is quiet. The only sound I could hear was the subtle sound of the ventilation system whirring. I lean out and look down the blackened tunnel. Tiny movements could be seen in the darkness. _Nothing but shadows moving in the dark._ Red glowing eyes look up at me and run in my direction. The low growls alert Chris and he pulls me back to beside him.

"I said you need to be careful. They're getting anxious and would love to put a stop to you." Chris whispers harshly. He looks over his shoulder and see the first sickle-like hand pop up onto the platform. It yowls its intentions and the whispers in my head speak in a clearer tongue.

_The Marker... The Marker... _

I look at Chris and I'm terrified. I knew things were too good to be true. I couldn't move. The pain was too great for me to fathom an attempt at flight.

"Get out of here, Ondrea." Chris yells as he places himself between the looming monster and myself.

I stare at him and shake my head. "No."

The monster reels its head back and starts it charge towards us. Everything slows down to fractions of a second. I see the tram coming up the track and I shove Chris out of the way. He topples to the floor with a thud and the slasher lunges at me. I dodge one attack and then another. I just need to hit it, if I can get close enough. One swipe passed me sending the necromorph forward. I move around the side and kick it about where I thought a knee cap should have been. It falls on to its torn up face and just as fast turns to attack again. They didn't say anything about what to do if the fuckers crawl.

"Chris!" I yell.

He watches as the monster starts to slither towards me using its arms as braces. Chris lunges for its good leg and grabs it. The monster turns on him and squeals its hateful dissatisfaction. It raises its razor sharp skewer and before I can do anything, it slams it down into Chris' back. The point of its bony spine hits the platform with a sickening sound. I race over as it starts to turn back in my direction. I lift my heavy boot and stomp on its disfigured head, crushing it into a tainted splatter. Bone and tissue hit my pants and its movement stops.

I pull the half broken appendage out of Chris' back and roll him over. My eyes well with tears at the sight laid out before me. Chris groans and shutters. He coughs and blood spouts from his mouth.

"Oh, Chris." I whisper. "Why the fuck did you have to try to be the hero?"

He smiles and gurgles softly. "I was trying to keep you safe." He murmurs.

"But your already dead. Can't you fix yourself or something?" I ask as I start applying pressure to his wound.

He shakes his head and mutters, "No. It doesn't quite work like that in this situation."

"So your dying on me again?" I moan softly. "You fucking asshole. You should have let me take care of it."

I hear the sound of the tram closing in and I watch as it passes without hesitation. I know Isaac's on it; heading back to the medical bay. Chris grabs my hand from his stomach and squeezes it. He looks at me with a sadness that shatters me to my core. He coughs violently and rolls to his side. Blood trickles from his mouth slowly and he spits out what he can.

"You need to get to the bridge." He states his voice barely a whisper. I start to protest his request and he glares at me. "Don't say no. You can do it. I know you can."

"You are supposed to protect me. Remember? I'm important." I yell.

"I'll be here when you need me." He gurgles. "But you must go. More will be on their way. They can sense fresh blood."

"This doesn't make sense." I choke out as I wipe the tears away that are sliding down my cheeks.

"I might have been a manifestation that was created, but I am flesh and blood." Chris whispers.

"What about all the questions that I have?" I ask. "You were supposed to answer them."  
Chris chuckles softly as he gasps, "You'll find them out as you go. It's almost time, you'll know when."

"I can't do this without you." I whisper. I can't lose him again.

"Heh. You've been doing everything by yourself already. I was never really here." Chris snorts. "Just remember... I loved you. I always loved you."

He lets out a shallow gasp and goes limp. The grip on my hand relaxes and I slide my hand out of his. I look at him and brush the hair from in front of his face tenderly.

From behind me, I can hear the shrieks and screams of more necromorphs closing on my location. I stand to face them. Anger and hate fills me. I was willing to stay and fight, much too stubborn to back down from the impossible odds I was facing. More of them start to appear from the darkness, ready to attack at the first chance they got. The release of the air brakes behind me signals that my last chance of escape was nearby. I ran towards the opening door and punched the panel trying to get the door to shut. I was quick, but they were quicker. One little baby necromorph slid across the platform and shrieks in anger. Three tentacles emerge from its back and quickly release what looked like darts at me. I maneuver out of the way of two of them but take the last as a grazing blow to my side.

The doors slam shut and I slide down the wall, sobbing and choking on my tears.

"Next stop: Bridge deck." The voice chimes over the PA.

I take off my jacket and lift my shirt and look at my wound on my side. The sliver trickles little blood, but the pain was excruciating. I bite my lip as I press on it.

"How am I going to know, Chris? What am I supposed to do?" I ask into the air. It had been the first time since this whole event started that I felt truly alone. Chris was looking after me, even when he wasn't there. I stand up, full of an unnatural vigor. The voices in my head are becoming clearer, but still are a garbled mess. "In time I _will_ know, I guess." I mutter to myself.

* * *

The doors slide open and the eery silence emanates from all sides of me. I walk off as if nothing scared me. I was won't going to let some bastard necromorph undo everything that Chris had tried to achieve for me. I open the door to the bridge and the slow whirling of the gears whine as the door slides open. I turn the corner and see a small service area.

Things can't really be that easy. I walk up to it and bring up its protocols. I type in Isaac's name and see what he'd tucked away for safe keeping. I know he isn't going to need it at this very second. It was a small selection of weapons and some ammo. I scroll to security arms and armor and grab a pulse rifle and some ammo.

"Fuck credits. I got the password." I chuckle as I plug in the only means of getting what I want into the system. _Code Accepted. Thank you. _The computer chimes. I take out a pulse rifle and some more riot gear and a couple of medical packs for my own taking. I'm sure that my bandages need to be changed now and my new wounds need to be tended to. I put on the riot gear and sling the rifle in front of me. I'd never fired a gun before. _Well willingly. _I keep the helmet down. I hate the way the damn things make me feel claustrophobic.

I finish "shopping" and open the door. It slides open and I'm awe struck by the view. Glass surrounded the whole bridge giving off spectacular views of the skies and the planet below. I walk to one of the dead consoles and take in the sight of the large planet down below. I hear a clatter of metal behind me and I turn around, startled by the noise. My heart beats in my head at a rapid pace. I can hear hissing off in the distance but it is growing closer. I run towards the captain's nest and down the stairs. Heavy foot falls echo in the cavernous bridge. It sniffs the air and starts back in the other direction. I hit the console on the lift and go down to where the escape pods were. Each had been jettisoned out into space shortly after the necromorphs started their attack. I lock out the lift and continue into the circle. I remember Isaac standing here. I can almost feel him there. The small room is saturated with him. I open the door and look into the nest. It's not spacious and there is one panel working. If I remember correctly, it was the one Hammond was working on. The large chair calls to me from the center of the room. I flop into it and prop my feet up onto the arm. I close my eyes. My adrenaline slowly ebbing as my breathing slows.

"Where's Chris?" Nicole asks from beside me.

"Dead." I answer. "I thought you would have none that." I don't open my eyes. I don't care to look at her.

"Dead?" Her tone questioning and unbelieving. "What happened?"  
"I don't want to talk about it." I growl. I prop my head on my hand and sigh.

"It's not possible." Nicole snaps. She smacks my arm out from under me and my head falls forward. I open my eyes and glare at her.

"It obviously is. I watched it happen." I mumble. "How's Isaac?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's fine. He's still making his way to the chem lab." She answers nonchalantly.

"Will wonders never cease?" I sarcastically ask.

"Where is he?" Nicole asks as she tries to change the subject.

"Go find him yourself." I sneer.

She walks away from the chair and looks out the window. Something is bothering her, I can feel it.

"It really is beautiful, isn't it?" She asks, still staring out the window.

"Behold my kingdom." I chuckle. If I had to deal with the rules to her game; I was going to bend them to my whim.

She looks at me and shoots me a look. "That's not funny, Ondrea." She hisses.

"What do you want, Nicole?" My exasperated tone was stronger than I thought it would be.

"I- Nothing." She stammers.

"Then leave me the fuck alone. You and Chris are the same. Not real. So quit fucking bothering me." I yell.

"Who gave you the authority to say anything?" Nicole argues.

"I don't need you." I tell her through gritted teeth. I stand up and walk up to her. I lock eyes on her's and stand there begging her to do something.

Slowly a smile creeps across her face. "Good. You're finally starting to get it. I'm also guessing your starting to make sense of the shitstorm going on in your head."

"Bits and pieces." I remark with a shrug.

"This strength you've managed to muster up is something your going to need." Nicole acknowledges as she walks passed me.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I question her trying to get her to make some fucking sense.

"I'm sure Chris told you that you'd learn everything when the time came?" She poses the question as if she already knows the answer. She walks around the back of the chair and stops.

"He did." I answer.

"Then you will know when it's time to know. Not before." Her cynical tongue makes me irritable and just wanting her to leave. "Be careful with yourself. Don't slip too far, or there is no way to get you back."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I snap. This cryptic bullshit has to stop.

"The key will be at the end of it all. If you survive. Which I'm sure you will. Given all that you know now." Nicole answers. She turns and walks through the door chuckling in an evil maniacal way.

I sit back down in the chair and close my eyes. _How the hell am I going to save myself from myself?_


	6. Alone I Stand Never the Wiser

I stare at the panel in front of me. Silence has fallen over the ship. Nothing is worth mentioning. I can't hack security from here. All I can watch are numbers and status reports. The same boring bullshit I'd been watching before. I fiddle with some knobs and look down at the planet. The gaping wound in its surface stares back at me. For all the chaos and disaster that stemmed from that god forsaken rock I can't help but feel as if it calls to me.

I hear a scream in the distance and it breaks my concentration. I turn around overcome by anxiety. I know nothing can get in.

"Isaac, someone's trying to jam the signal." The final inane words I hear before my own system goes dead. The deafening static and white noise rattles my ear drums into ringing. I can't up the frequency but this voice. This woman, she is unfamiliar. I haven't seen hair or hide of her since the beginning. Awfully convenient for her.

I would love to find her. See what her intentions are. I know they aren't pure. So says everything spouting off in my head. Or at least I think that's what they're saying. Either way, I don't like her. Her demeanor is cold and calculating and her orders are almost as if she's brainwashed Isaac.

An alarm goes off and an even deader void fills the small cabin. I look at the panel. My eyes dart from one side to the other. Oxygen levels are plummeting and we're venting atmosphere. Decompression in medlab.

The stiflingly thin air sends me into full alert. I put on my helmet and close my eyes. "Hurry, Isaac." I say in my head. I look down at the counter in front of me. _Forty-five seconds_. I watch as the meter for O2 slowly falls. _Thirty seconds._ The air in the suit starts to become a choking force. It's almost impossible to breath. I feel like I'm buried alive, encapsulated in my own tomb. _Fifteen seconds._ I start to panic as I try to catch the last decent inhales of breath. I look at the screen one last time and sigh. My lungs burn and scream. Oxygen levels are in the red zone.

A buzzer sounds and my oxygen timer clears.

"Decompression sequence has been deactivated. Oxygen levels still within sustainable levels." The computer blares over the PA.

I put down my helm and sit in the chair. My head falls in my hands. The heavy panting that I know I'm doing is replaced by a different type of breathing that I hear behind me. I know nothing has come in; not with the lock outs and the vents secure. The breathing, ragged and fast becomes punctuated by soft moan from a female.

"You have to be shitting me." I mutter without turning around. It was a familiar sound. I'd heard it quite a few times as I walked past the rooms in the middle of the night. On the way back to my room. Everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Pft. Single and alone meant I never needed to worry about the pain that came from such acts. The probability of a broken heart, didn't seem like it was worth the cause of a few minutes of mind numb pleasure.

"Shhh. It's alright." A male voice whispers.

I shake my head and roll my eyes. I stand up and try to get as far from the noise that's building up to its inevitable climax. I can hear it, the panting, the moaning, the soft whispers growing louder. I try to distract myself. Something to take my mind off of the obvious copulation. The unhindered and unadulterated ecstasy I hear. Still it grows his voice subtle but her's more audible. I clamp my hands over my ears; trying to shelter the sanctity of my little mind from the subliminal grunts and groans that still echoed in the chasm of my mind. There was no escaping it. I grip the rail as I start to stumble. Her screams lobotomize me and the inescapable dizziness and whispers still filter through. I slam my eyes shut unable to take the oncoming waves of pain that washed over me.

"Stop." I groan. It continues on the never ending crescendo still raged.

"Don't hurt me." The woman's voice pleas.

"Stop." I repeat as I try to maintain consciousness.

"Oh!" The woman yelps and sighs. Her voice becoming more hoarse with each audible outburst.

"Fucking stop!" I finally scream. The last thing I could say before shooting my eyes open and gasping for breath. I look at my hands. The steel under them is dented ever so slightly. My white knuckles beam back at me. My head swirls with pain and my whole body is tense and uncomfortable.

Finally a giggle escapes the woman and I look in the reflection of the window. Back into the shadows, just barely visible I can make out her figure. She is so familiar to me but I have no clue at this moment in time who she is. I strain to see her face but the only thing that catches my attention are two red eyes staring back at me. She giggles again and takes a step from the darkness I blink once then twice. _No. _She puts her finger to her lips and strides up behind me.

"It's not so bad." She whispers. "The whole thing isn't that bad at all." She smiles at me. Her nude body standing so close to me.

"It didn't sound that bad from where I was." I snort. My head continues to throb. I try to shake it off, but to no avail.

"Have you looked at yourself lately? She asks, tucking the black and red strands of hair behind her ear. "You look ill."

"No." I answer. "I haven't had time to do much of anything."

She walks behind me and clips my hair back up like a mother would do to a child. "You are so pretty."

I chuckle at the comment coming from the naked woman who obviously doesn't care about modesty. "I'm ordinary."

She laughs a distorted laugh and grabs me by the chin till my vision was centered solely on myself. My reflection stares back at me and my heart begins to race. "You are perfect." She hisses. I can't take my eyes off of myself. Staring back at me isn't the 'me' I know. She and I were one in the same. Down to the red eyes staring back at me. "Who you are becoming will not end until you sacrifice your very nature and let it into you."

She walks away from me. Her soft bare feet slap the metal softly.

"What do you-" I start to ask as I turn around. She isn't there and when I look back at myself everything is as it was before.

My upper lip grows damp and I sniffle and wipe away the fluid. I look down to examine it and see blood smeared across my gloved hand. I lean forward and it begins to drip onto the deck in small splattering circles. "Damn it." I yelp as I sit back in the chair and strip one of my hands free of its glove. _My first ever nosebleed and all I can say is "damn it." Funny. Well, Chris would be amused. I'm pretty sure he'd have watched the whole thing and wished for a camera. Dog._

* * *

"Isaac, something is blocking environmental and its big. Get down there and take care of it. Poison levels are rising in all areas of the ship." I finally hear from the comm.

"How big?" Isaac asks with subtle amusement.

"I don't know." The woman asks.

"Alright, Kendra. I'll be there in a minute. I'm entering agro now." He responds and the line goes dead again for me.

"I've lost communications with Hammond, as well. Be careful." The woman chirps. Her half-hearted concern was abrasive and if Isaac really thought she was sincere than he was stupider than I though he was.

"I'll keep a look out for him. If I find anything I'll let you know." Isaac answers. His voice full of distress and exhausted.

I smile and grab my rifle to go down and see what damage has already been done. What kind of dastardly deeds could I possibly do now? It's not like my head will explode if I look around.

"Where are you going?" Nicole asks as I unlock the door.

"Out." I say as the door slides open.

"You can't!" She yells.

"What the fuck do you want me to do, Nicole?" I snap. "I can't do anything from up here." I scoff and turn around to look at her. She glares at me; her arms folded across her chest with impatience. "Who's brilliant fucking idea was it to come up here anyways? Yours?"

She ekes out a chuckle and snorts as if to contain some hysterical laughter she has built up in her. "Yes. It was my idea. Everything has been my plan since the beginning."

"Figures." I mutter. "It's cause I didn't like you isn't it?"

"You are an arrogant little bitch. You think I would have kept you alive for so long if it wasn't in my best interests?" Nicole snaps.

"There's enough shit going on in my head that my own thoughts aren't my own anymore. It's you, and Chris and Isaac." I stop my tirade and my mouth drops. "Why in the fuck is Isaac in my head?"

"It's insurance." Nicole answers. "If you die. He does too and vice versa. You are nothing more than a living tether."

"This is what you've been doing to me the whole time. Fucking with my head just to keep your boyfriend alive?" I hiss.

"You make it sound worse than it is. You are safe. That's what you've wanted. Safety and security." She responds as she takes a step towards me.

"Bullshit!" I growl. "My time isn't done yet."

"I still need you till the end." Nicole explains. "There are certain things you can help me with that can get Isaac out alive."

"What happens to me after all of this, if I'm so expendable?" I ask.

"That depends on how far you progress. You are already changing. You've seen it. Felt it." She answers. "Once enough damage has been done, it'll be too late." She pauses for a moment and takes another step forward. "But- there is a way to keep everything as it is with none of the ill effects."

"I don't want any of it." I bellow. I turn back and I exit the room and head back for the tram.

"It's too late for any of that. You already belong to it." Nicole whispers in my head. "You already knew that. It calls to you. Down below and up here. You are ruled by two masters. What are you going to do?"

"Are you offering an alliance of sorts?" I answer back.

"I am." Nicole purrs her contentment at me.

"I'm listening." My voice grows low as the door closes again and I rest my head on the cold metal. Smelling the metallics and hints of grease from the gears. The smooth surface radiates its ice cold touch and I sigh at how it numbs the pain I feel.

"I can't tell you much. I've already more than I should." Nicole remarks.

"And? What's the point? You said you wanted my help for something. What is it?" I ask. I can't look at her. I don't dare to; just for the sheer fact that her mere presence was enough to drive me insane.

"I need you to stay. You'll be able to leave in a little bit." Nicole answers.

I turn around and lean up against the door. I was compelled to do so. I cross my arms and stare at her. All she wants me to do is stay here. Why? "How can I be any help from here? Why the fuck am I having crazy images of things?"

"You just are." Nicole hisses and rolls her eyes. "That woman, Kendra, the one that's been barking orders at Isaac; she should be the one you are concerned with. Her intentions are not for the betterment of us."

"I figured as much." I rub my eyes and chuckle softly to myself. "I could go and find her. That seems more like fun compared to being imprisoned."

"No. I have something special planned for her and I will definitely need your help for that task. Trust me, it's going to be to die for." Nicole beams at the idea. Whatever she was talking about brought her great joy. Funny, I wish I knew what it was. Maybe I could enjoy the joke as well.

"But I'm not ready for anything yet. You've told me that. Chris told me that. I, myself, have told me that." It kills me not knowing what I wasn't ready for or how I would know when I was.

"Just stay and relax." Nicole chimes.

"No." I mutter as I shake my head. I open the door, my head held high and a stronger sense of self worth fills me.

Nicole's voice fades back into the din of confusing voices that echo and reverberate in my skull. Whatever damage may have been done already could still be repaired. I don't give a fuck about what that conniving bitch wants from me. She's fucked with me for too long; using me as her personal puppet. How do I know she's telling the truth about anything?

I walk through the bridge area and towards the tram. The oddest feelings emerge from me. I find an odd sense of peace in the silence and the dark. An overwhelming sense of power creeps into me and even with all the pain I'm in, nothing felt better than the hot blood that slowly leaked through my bandages.

I walk onto the tram and hit the panel to go to medical. The place is probably crawling with necromorphs by now, but I'm compelled to see Chris one last time, because I'm not coming back. I am still bound to him emotionally, but a new found sense of independence urges me to walk over the dead and continue where they left off.

The tram stops at the platform and the doors slide open. I peer around the frame of the door and see nothing. There is nothing. No blood, no necromorph, no Chris. I give a sigh of relief and lean back into the tram. I order the tram to go to Agriculture. It chimes once and the doors close.

* * *

I walk onto the platform and hear staggered footsteps coming towards me. _Shit. _I look around trying to find a place to hide. I can't get back on the tram and I'm exposed out in the open. I look at the platform and I peer over the side. The drop down would kill me. The steps are getting closer and I hear the door start to open. I'm out of options. I slide off the side of the platform and hang.

Gasping, exhausted breathing moves in front of me and onto the tram. I hear the doors close and the air brakes release. Slowly, it moves away from me and I breathe a sigh of relief. My arm muscles tremble and I try to pull myself back up but I can only get so far. It dons on me that I hadn't figured out how I was going to get back up. My shoulder screamed and I can feel the wound opening up, pouring more blood down my body. I kick my legs feverishly but it only exhausts me more.

From above me I hear chuckling. I look up and see Nicole standing over me an evil grin on her face.

"My, my, what a predicament we've managed to get ourselves into." She giggles.

"Yeah, yeah. Pull me up." I bark. I can feel my finger start to slip.

She bends over me and sighs. She reaches down and caresses my cheek and her smile turns to a scowl. "No."

My eyes grow wide and I'm instantly terrified of the sudden stop at the bottom. "What do you mean no!" I yelp.

"You should have stayed on the bridge." Nicole mumbles. She stands up and walks away. Completely disappearing from my sight.

I continue to struggle but my body doesn't want to work any more. I squeak out a cry, "Fuck! Alright! I'm sorry!"

Nicole appears again and grabs me by the hair and throws me across the platform. I hit the ground with a thud and the air is ripped from my lungs. I choke and gag as I get to my knees. I look at her and something takes over me. I can feel it in my gut and its warm and hot and it surges through my body. The voices become a deafening wail, but this is different. My vision doesn't go hazy and there is no pain from it.

Nicole, who has started towards me again, probably to launch another attack stops and takes a step back. I look her over and am instantly overwhelmed with sadistic glee and rage.

"You- I- You're not ready yet!" She squeaks.

"Ready for what?" I ask. I don't feel like me anymore. I am another person. A better person.

"It's too soon. I don't know if we can fix this Ondrea." She stammers out and then just as fast she is gone.

I feel my blood simmer and my heart slow to normal. I heft my gun and start towards where I would think Isaac would be by now. That stupid bitch held me up longer than I wanted.

I enter the tower and see the bodies of necromorphs strewn wall to wall. I keep going and I hear a warning klaxon just ahead of me and a door slam shut.

"Quarantine measures have been activated." The computer chimes urgently.

I run to the door and can hear the screaming and yowling of necromorphs stalking their prey. On the other side of the door with them, I know is Isaac. He pounds on the door and then the commencing of firing warns me that I was running out of time. I pull the emergency panel and look at the wires in it. The rapid shuffle of feet from behind me, tells that I am also not alone either.

"Nothing's ever simple. Is it?" I mutter as my eyes dart from one side of the room to the other. I could only anticipate so much. I make sure my clip is loaded and see in front of me this emaciated necromorph coming towards me. It slows its pace as it rounds the corner to my left. The gunfire still goes on behind me, but I also notice it moving away from me. The necromorph hisses and more quickly hobbles towards me. I open fire. Hoping that I actually hit my mark. Blood explodes from it and it screeches in pain. I take a step back and keep firing. One leg falls off and thuds to the floor and it falls.

"It's not dead yet." An unknown voice tells me in my head. I don't know if it was that creepy whispering that had finally become complete and I understand it now or if it was just my subconscious kicking in. It gets up onto its hands and starts to crawl towards me. I keep firing and it's arm suddenly explodes from its body. It falls down and doesn't move again.

I wipe the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand and turn back to the panel. I look at the wires and yank.

"Quarantine has been lifted. Staff may resume work." The computer says.

I put my ear up to the door, but I don't hear anything. "Oh no." I groan and push the panel to open the door. I don't hear him and I don't see him. My heart sinks in an instant. Slowly I hear the small motor from the lift and I look up. I can see Isaac standing on the second level. He looks like hell, but so do I. Which isn't saying much.

I walk out of the area and head back towards the tram. Maybe Nicole was right. I am not ready to be doing anything. Not with what's going on. I'm a danger to myself and I'm a danger to him.

I get on the tram and select the bridge deck. I drop my pulse rifle to the ground. I sigh and start violently shaking. Then it dons on me: What the fuck did Nicole mean that she couldn't fix this? What is this? What am I? What am I becoming?"


	7. I'd be Anything

"Ondrea." A voice cuts through my subconscious. It's barely noticeable through din of noise going off in my head. I stir a little, unable to open my eyes. I groan softly and start to fall back asleep. "Ondrea?" The voice beckons again. I grumble my dissatisfaction and try to ignore it. My body aches and an unbearable fire radiates through me. I try to get comfortable in the captain's chair and sigh. "Ondrea!" The sudden sternness rouses me and I open my eyes. Exhaustion calls to me; telling me to return to the realm of dreams.

I sit up, yawning and trying to appeal to my greater senses that something that was of some importance needed to be addressed.

"What?" I groan, rubbing the last moments of sleep from my eyes. I stretch my arms and recoil at the pain in my shoulder.

Nicole squats next to me and sighs. She looks at me for a long while and watches as my coherence returns to me. I just wanted a couple of hours of sleep. Something to stem the tide of mind numbing pain. The slight masochism and entreating exhilaration had finally taken its toll on me physically and psychologically.

"You know Isaac cleared out agro an hour ago." Nicole states.

I nod slowly. I know just about everything that's going on with him now. It is disturbing to think about. His thoughts, fears and pain seemed to be dumped on me at any given time. "How could I not know?" I snort trying to be flippant about some stranger invading my thoughts. A stranger who has no idea what I've done for him. His survival, his life in my very hands. The doors I have opened to let him proceed. The doors that I've locked to protect him from the very creatures that aim to stop him.

"You've been asleep for about two hours." Nicole started. She stands and walks towards the window. The familiar look of being in deep thought exudes from her.

"So?" I snap. I stand and walk to her. She peers out into the expanse and she bites the inside of her cheek as if to hold back whatever her next comment was.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." She mutters. She looks over at me and a rich sadness overtakes her.

I'm taken aback by the comment. From the get go she had been this cold-hearted bitch that cared not for me, but what she had planned to do with me.

"What's with the change in attitude? Is something wrong?" I ask, confused by the complete opposite demeanor she had shouldered since the beginning.

"It's just-" She sighs and shakes her head. "It doesn't seem like this is going to end. Not end well, to say the least."

I smirk at the pessimism, still in shock that the woman standing beside me, who just a couple of hours ago was more than willing to let me plummet to my death was showing doubt in everything. She was always so cool, slightly deranged, but wholly confident that her plan would work out. What was causing all these negative thoughts to spill forth and become the topic of conversation. Even though she tried to kill me countless times, abandoned me, told me that I was nothing but a pawn to be used to her will; I still felt sorry for the creature.

"Why wouldn't it end well? You seem to have things under control." I chuckle. For all her faults, her cunning and calculating nature never seemed to fail her and now she looks as faint as ever to me.

"I never had control of everything. There were too many variables. I never really took into account how your mind worked." Nicole stammered, ashamed by the admission.

I look at the planet and back at her. My confusion unleashed by a certain sense of fear. The insanity that had been so common place in the last twenty-four hours now made little sense to me at all. My stomach dropped and in the final brief moments of silence, the echoing that always seemed to bleed through into every thought faded away.

"You said I wasn't ready and that things were progressing faster than normal. What did you mean by that?" I ask, leaning against the railing.

She turns and walks away from me. I follow her as a fury that I've never felt before builds in me. She stops and her shoulders slump forward. "It's nothing."

"It's nothing!" I growl. I grab her arm and spin her to face me. "Damn it, that's not good enough! You know damn well what going on! Why won't you tell me?"

Her head drops and I expect her to become that demon that defends herself and fight me off of her. She shakes slightly in my grip. Her muscles instantly tensing and I can feel her shuddering. She looks up at me and the wet lines from tears mark her face. I release her and take a step back. I don't know what to say let alone do now.

"Because I need your help." She murmurs softly.

"My help?" I ask with a sarcastic tone.

"Isaac needs your help, but you'll need my help to get to him." Nicole sighs as she wipes her face dry.

"I thought it was too soon." I state. Nothing was ever clear with her. First it's don't do anything. Don't go anywhere.

"He can't see you for you. No, not yet." She concedes.

"See me for me. Right? What plan do you have now?" I ask blowing a strand of hair out of my face.

"He needs to get a beacon or emergency transponder." She answers.

"And?" I huff as I fold my arms.

"The door's locked." She finishes and start towards the door.

"I can't do anything about it from here. What do you expect me to do?" I ask. The inconvenience of going back to the security office was the least of my concerns. I just didn't know how in the hell I was going to help. Don't be seen. Don't let him see you. Something bad is going to happen.

I walk with her onto the lift and stare at my feet. "Where are we going?"

"The mining deck." She mutters in a matter of fact tone.

"Is he already there? What about everything you've said up until now? I've never seen you completely wishy-washy." I sulk.

"He's there. But we should be fine for now. He's busy." Nicole explains. She steps off of the lift and I immediately after her. I look around the empty bridge area and the groaning of a necromorph I hadn't heard before echoes off in the distance. I raise my rifle, ready for a fight, but Nicole smacks it down towards the floor and shakes her head. I look at her curiously, unable to understand why she didn't want me to be able to defend myself.

We hurry our pace and enter the tram. I look over at Nicole and examine her. "I need answers, Nicole."

"I can't give them to you right now. You need to trust me." Nicole grumbles and wrings her hands in nervousness.

"Why can't you give them to me? How long do you plan on holding me off?" I scream. I punch the wall of the tram in exasperation. "I'm fucking tired of going around in circles with you."

"I know. But you still need me as much as I need you." Nicole remarks. She puts her hand on my shoulder. She looks me in the eyes and a warmth engulfs me. I relax and take a deep breath. The door opens up and I step out on to the platform with Nicole. She looks me over once and smiles.

"What?" I grumble.

"I need to go take care of Isaac for a little bit. You'll know the way to go. If you get lost, just ask." She orders. "Just be careful."

I nod and start towards the door. The sounds on the other side of the door were unbelievably loud. I open the door and the heat was intense. The room was empty and considerably cleaner than most of the other hellish places I'd strolled through. I get on the freight elevator and hit the panel. Nicole was right, I'd know where to go. It was intriguing to figure out everything from some unknown source. The clues that slipped into the mainstream and pointed me to my destination. It all seems so prophetic to me.

The knowledge gained, while indescribable, from start to finish. Everything was starting to unravel little by little, but I couldn't tell where all the interconnecting threads would tie together. Maybe they are right. It isn't time for me to know, but slowly I can feel everything, bit by painstaking bit of myself being chipped away. I wonder if this is what Nicole meant and what Chris feared. The things that they omitted or completely avoided. Like some big damn puzzle that I am supposed to figure out myself. While I certainly can solve the mystery myself, the utter confusion of conflicting voices that are no longer whispers but screaming deftly in my ear. No longer was most of this forsaken language a mystery to me. Such thoughts do not bode well because in the wake of all this, I am slowly coming undone.

The door opens up and I see Nicole flagging me down. I walk up to her and catch my breath. Beads of sweat drip from my forehead and mat my bangs to my face.

"I need you to get to the other side of this area. The door's over there." She states and looks around, suspiciously.

"What do you need me to do?" I question her as I sling the rifle over my shoulder.

"There's a panel that'll unlock the door." Nicole answers. She becomes shifty and hurried. I car hear the yowls and screams of necromorphs approaching my position.

"What about Isaac?" I push. I step onto the gondola and hit the panel. It jolts forward and the long trip to the other side of a large chasm begins.

"I'll take care of him. Just be ready." Nicole calls as she heads back up the ramp.

I look over the side in to the eternal darkness. From my point of view it looks like a void that went on forever. I look at the corpses strewn to both sides of me on ramps. They're legs hanging off as if they had died just sitting there waiting for the end. The track rattles and I look forward. I have reached my destination and there to greet me was Nicole.

"I thought you were taking care of Isaac?" I snort as she looks down at me.

She shrugs and nods for me to come to her. I hesitate; noticing the gap between the small catwalk and the mini-tram that I am on now.

"You'll be alright." She assures me. She extends her hand with a smile and I more than willingly grab it. Hoisting myself on to the railing and hopping on to the slotted slab of steel.

"What about that?" I ask pointing to the car still on my side of the room.

Nicole looks around and takes my place back in the gondola. "Just stay right there. Isaac is coming."

My stomach grows all a flutter with an anxiety that is rather befitting, considering how our last pseudo-interaction took place.

"Relax. He won't try to kill you." Nicole's voice echoes in my head.

"How can you be so sure?" I question back. The same usual confidence that she had had returned. In that moment, Nicole seemed too relaxed for what was about to happen.

Slowly a different feeling emerged. A sense of excitement. I am finally going to be in the same room as him. Even if brief. I welcome it, a small reward for seeing him alive and in person. Anticipation and elation is overcome by anxiety. My own mind floods with doubt.

"Just stay here. He's coming." Nicole whispers as if she is trying to hide the fact that she is there.

The low hum and gentle rattle of the gondola tell me he is indeed coming. I hold my breath, as if trying to be invisible. I don't think it'll help though. I exhale, attempting to evade the ill feelings that I notice creeping into me. I can't help it. The pessimism is overwhelming.

The droning stops and I can hear him. The ragged breath, the overabundance of exhaustion. I know how he feels. Never knowing what's going to jump out and take a swipe; never quite sure of your surroundings. Sure, I know exactly how he feels. I take a step and then another and turn to him. He looks up at me. I can't tell what he's thinking. He's blocked from me but the subtle cocking of his head tells me that he's overcome by something.

"Isaac. I'm glad you came." I start. He stares silently at me. It was odd and uncomfortable to deal with the lack of a physical visage staring back at me. "I know you are looking for the emergency transponder." He stiffens a little and looks around. I follow his gazes and I melt. "Follow me, Isaac, I'll get you into the room."

I walk away from him and through a door. All the while listening to the muttering coming from the man right across from me.

"Nicole?" Isaac whispers.

"I'm not Nicole." I mutter under my breath. I see what she is doing. Yet, my own conviction and pride as wounded as it is, won't let me say anything. Maybe for one damn minute I want to be acknowledged for doing the work. Maybe I want him to see me, not as some dead woman but a very much alive one that has been busting her ass for him.

He enters the room and I look at him. The chasm between us feels like we're spread apart by an entire galaxy. I turn to him again. The shuttering sighs and slight gasps ring in my ears. So familiar yet so alien to me. I can't place it and damn it I don't want to think about it.

"I need to unlock the door for you. It'll take a little bit of time." I state as I walk up to the control panel. The screen flashes and access code requirements blink feverishly at me.

"I've been looking for you." Isaac states from behind me. I can feel the elation, and my heart sinks again. I want to scream "The bitch is dead for fuck's sakes!" I can't; never have I felt so powerless to do anything. My eyes lock on the screen and I bite my lip holding back everything that is trying so immensely to escape. I type in one code. Stupid codes. I'm growing so tired of them. I can hear above me the growling and snarling of monsters approaching. They know we're here. I knew that it was just a matter of time before they found us.

The clattering grows and out of my peripheral, I see one of the fiends starting towards me ready to launch its attack. I keep working. Even if I do die it's the last step that he needs to get the hell out of here. I mash buttons as the creature looms towards me, saliva dripping from its torn jaws. The smell was putrescent and lingered. My gut wrenched as it wafts towards me. Two shots are fired off and the creature falls to the ground with a yowl.

I take a deep breath and I continue. My mind's distractions of noises above and the splattering of blood spraying on me slows my pace. More fall through the vent and I glance to see if they notice me. Apparently they do, given that they almost seem to smile when I tense up and try to work. More plasma fire, more falling limbs. The screaming was a constant. The metal walls could hardly contain what was going on. I also cannot contain my frustrations. _ Access Denied. Access Denied._

I try to ignore it and the screeching of a stalker behind me stops my concentration. I dare not turn around. It's so close to me that I hear its small hands on the wall. I hold my breath and keep working. If I stop then neither of us will have achieved our missions.

"Hurry, Ondrea." Nicole mutters in my head. "I don't know how much longer I can cover you." Her voice was persistent.

I hit enter and a green screen comes up. _ Access Granted. _I grin to myself. My emotions barely containable. I look to the right and notice the small pile of bodies in front of me. There's no noise, no impending doom, just the exhausted breathing of Isaac.

I turn to him, unsure of what to do or what to say.

"The doors unlocked, go ahead and get what you came for." I say.

His head falls forward and he turns to walk away from me. I know how he feels. So close yet so far away. It isn't long before he reappears. He stops in the doorway and stares. His path set out before him. I don't know how much more he can take. The twists and turns, the disaster, the not knowing that the woman that stands before him is not the one he came to rescue, but the one who's done the rescuing for him.

"Thank you, Isaac. Do what you came to do." I urge him forth. The whispering had returned and the realization that, Nicole is in fact losing her grip on him. "Please, hurry. Make us whole."

I tremble at what I say. The last line. That hated line. The one thing that was forbidden and here I am saying it myself, beyond my own thoughts. My heart skips a beat and there is nothing I can do now to take it back. My mouth drops open and I abruptly turn from him in shame.

"To hell with this Nicole. I did what you asked." I tell her from within myself.

"I know Ondrea." She whispers.

I walk back towards the gondola, marching through the bodies of people I had met in passing in my day to day. It was a lifetime ago.

I stop before I get to the gondola and watch as Isaac starts back without me.

"Oh hell." I sigh. The shrieking returns from stalkers that follow their prey back. More gun fire and in between it all, is Isaac. The swearing and yelling. The distress that I can't do anything about.

"He's going to be fine." Nicole says from behind me. I don't look at her. I don't want to look at her. I look down into the chasm of darkness and gasp. The thoughts that flood my mind are unintelligible but the subtle light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, gave me some solace. "What are you thinking, Ondrea?"

I lean a little more forward and smirk. "I'm planning my escape."


	8. It Takes Everything I Am

It's been several hours since I saw Isaac. I have no inclination to return to the bridge even at Nicole's nagging behest. I listen to communications between my charge and Kendra. My urges to find out what she's up to drive me through the lower decks of the ship up towards the living quarters; back to where my trip into madness had started, oh so many hours before.

I enter the central access of the residential area and I'm finally wholly taken aback by the scene. Bodies, whole bodies, with little to no mutilation whatsoever. The only marks upon them are the holes in the skull. Brain matter staring back at me, but the faces they were covered and I couldn't tell if I had once known these people.

"Is it what you expected?" Nicole asks as she rounds a corner in front of me.

I glance over at her and shake my head. I don't know how to really respond. She, on the other hand seems to glow with excitement. She smiles and turns towards the corpses. She bends down and strokes the face of the cadaver and chuckles softly to herself as if to say she was glad to see they were dead.

"What the hell happened here?" I ask.

"Mercer." Nicole answers. Her grin turns to an instant frown. "He's defiling the very sanctity of what this all stands for with his extremist views."

"I agree." I mutter as I take the lift up towards the kitchen. "You'd think they'd have gotten him by now with all of his Unitology bullshit."

Nicole chuckled again and stopped.

"Hey, we can get in from here." A man's voice calls out from behind me. I turn quickly and see a man and woman running towards the lift. I hide in the doorway and watch as they run passed. A man and woman that constantly seem to look over their shoulders and not see me.

"Why did you hide?" Nicole asked. She eyes me questioningly and keeps walking.

I can't answer the question. I have no clue why I hid. Probably because I've been doing it this whole entire time that it's becoming second nature to me. I leave the shadows and start following in their direction. As I open the door, a shattering sound shrieks and rocks the whole ship.

"Fuck." I mutter as I regain my balance. I light a cigarette and the computer's monotone voice comes over the PA.

"Impact to the port side has created massive damage. Evacuate sections-" The computer whines a list of decks and beckons repair crews to make their way to the collision.

"Isaac, you need to get to that ship and do something about it. See if there are survivors on board that can help us." Kendra orders.

"I'm on my way." Isaac said through a horrible amount of static.

A shriek calls out from in front of me and I start to run. I run through the door that is ajar and run smack dab into Mercer staring at me with a grin on his face.

"I see we have another convert." He says with glee. "Where's the engineer?"

"I have no clue." I remark as I shove him out of my way. He grabs my arm tightly and turns me to face him.

"You're that engineer." He states as he looks me over.

"So nice of you to notice." I jab as I pull away from him.

"You know I was right. The next step in evolution is happening right now. You should be grateful that you are to take part in such a step in for the rest of humanity." He grins again and takes a step towards me.

I shake my head and look him square in the eye. "I'm not converting to one of those things."

"But you must." He urges as he grabs at me. "You and the one that's trying to save the ship."

His words meld with the racket already seeping into my ears. The noise is deafeningly loud and tell me to kill him. In a split second, I'm on him. My hand around his throat, squeezing. Him pinned against the wall with no fear. He doesn't move or resist he just stares at me testing me, prodding me to do something.

_Kill him._

"You will not touch him. Or I will kill you." I growl in an unnatural voice.

His face fills with shock and his eyes grow wide as my grip tightens. He claws at my wrist and proceeds to struggle slightly.

"You- You have been-" He stammers with each wheeze.

"I have been nothing." I snarl. Spittle jumps from my mouth. I place the cigarette in my hand to my lips and inhale. "I'm warning you, Mercer. Leave him alone." He nods and I drop him to ground. I don't believe him but I'm trying to maintain control over what little of myself I have left. He gasps for air and I turn to leave. I stop and turn back to him and glare. "If you say anything to him or if I see you near him, it'll be the last thing you do." I warn as I continue walking.

"You're bleeding." Nicole points out.

I stop and check myself over. I don't see any injuries and feel no pain. My shoulder has gone numb and hefting the weapon in front of me just to maintain it when I have to fire has become more taxing every time I have to aim.

I haven't seen too many necromorphs out and about. It's strange given all the warnings that Nicole had previously been giving me. I still hear the groans of that one that wouldn't die. The only reason I know there is one is because I can hear it. Yes, hear it. It speaks. In my head its voice darker than most and still just as incoherent as if it is an unnatural aberration compared to what I have been already facing.

"I'm fine." I state as I keep walking.

"Your nose is bleeding, Drea." Nicole states in a harsh tone.

I stop and wipe my nose. I sniffle, feeling the hot liquid shoot back into my sinuses. It drips to the floor and splatters quickly.

"How did you not notice that?" Nicole chuckles.

"I don't know." I answer as I try to make it stop.

"They are coming more quickly aren't they?" She asks as she looks over my face and stares me in the eyes as if she is more interested in them then the blood pouring down my face.

I nod and she releases her grip on my head. She sighs and shakes her head before looking back at me.

"It's almost complete." She states. Her frown was more of a warning than her statement.

"I know." I answer. "I can feel it."

"Not much time then." She concludes. A sudden smile creeps across her face as if she were satisfied with the upcoming results.

I sniffle again and feel the liquid sliding down the back of my throat. I hack once and spit it to the floor. The normal red mixed with a black, almost tarrish color in it. I stare at it trying to deal with the questions that I now have.

"Hey," Nicole starts as she places her hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright."

I stare at her blankly. I don't believe her. Everything that seems to be going is happening with greater frequency. The meeting with Mercer was probably her plan from the get-go. I can't complain though. I know he'll die soon, by my hand or by some random necromorph that seems destined to take the chance with him. Hell I think he'll like it. It's what he's wanted the whole time.

"That fucked up zealot." I say out loud.

Nicole looks at me questioningly. "What?"

"Nothing." I mutter. I keep walking down the hallway towards the common area. The squishing of the tissue under foot is loud and the fluids that shoot from them onto my boots are a garish color and of an unpleasant aroma. Nicole doesn't follow she stays where she's at. I look back at her. What is she waiting for a written invitation? "Are you coming?" I call to her.

She stands there, unmoving but watching me all the while. I start back towards her and she puts her hand up to stop me.

"There's something that's going to be happening soon." She states. Her voice monotone as if she is in a trance.

"Damn it, I don't have time for this, Nicole." I bark, smacking her hand away.

"I'm just saying, when the time comes I question whether you'll be able to fulfill your final order."

"Order?" I snort. "What order?"

She shakes her head and starts walking again; as if the conversation had never taken place. She walks passed me and through the door we had just came through. I run up to her and block her from going through.

"Drea." She pleas.

"No. What order?" I snap. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It's nothing to be concerned about right now. Just-" She stops and shoves me aside.

"Why are we going back to Mercer?" I ask.

"We're not. He's gone." She answers, looking over her shoulder. "He's going after those other two people now."

I start through the door and make my way back to the commons. "I can't save them." I state.

"I know." Nicole blurts out. "How does that make you feel?"

"How should it make me feel?" I yelp. "There's nothing I can do about it. Technically everyone is expendable, if it'll keep Isaac alive."

Nicole smirks and resumes walking.

* * *

Whatever is coming over me, I don't like. Calling people expendable, heh, that's something that Nicole or hell, even Mercer would call them. Anxiously I start walking back to the train. The somber voice of singing catches the air. It has an eerie tone to it. I start to hum it, the rhythm familiar, but the lyrics contorted into this creepy verse. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. A child's song but morphed into this near dreadful hymn for the dead down below.

I look over the railing. A part of me doesn't want to go down there. The question of if any of these people were actually willing participants to Mercer's diabolical undertaking of conversion was one of less concern and not something I could actually do anything about. They were dead. Like so many others. What makes them any different than the people who changed into necromorphs?

Is it really transcendence that these people are asking of themselves? Throwing themselves to the wolves to feel the sanctity of what would be the next evolutionary step in our existence. It was a cacophony of noise now. The music slowly speeds up and slows down like a record player using vinyl records. The whispers are screaming and the gurgling sounds that I hear below me are that of ill will. I look off into the far off corner past the glow of where the candlelight can reach and I see two glowing eyes prowling around in the darkness. Metal hits the ground and I begin to breathe again. It entered the vent. Its yowls ebb off into the distance.

"I know you are out there." A voice says over my comm. "My wife said you would come, Ondrea."

I can't place the voice but it sounds so familiar to me. I look around to see if I'm safe, but the migraine that has been haunting me had come back with such force that voice sounds high pitched and rings in my ears.

"Who is this?" I ask quickly. My eyes start to water from the strain my brain seems to be under. There is a long pause and then there is nothing. I wipe my eyes dry and rub the sweat from my brow.

"This is Doctor Kyne. I need to speak with you." The man states his voice hurried and almost out of breath.

"Where are you? How do you know me?" I snap over the comm.

"I'm not far from your location. I'll tell you more when you get here." Kyne answers. "The door behind you is unlocked. Please hurry."

I turn around and see the panel on the door light up. When I had come through here the first time the control was dead. It figured that someone else who was slightly more coherent would have played the same hiding game as I. Hell, it is actually the smart thing to do for all intents and purposes.

I open the door and follow the long hallway to another door. I hit the panel and the door slides open. It was a small room separated into two with a glass partition. On the other side stands what I can only make out as Kyne.

"What do you want?" I mutter. I lean against the wall and light a cigarette. My lack of caring anymore has hit an all-time low. There is no more time to be accommodating and niceties.

"I'm glad you made it." Kyne states as he paces the floor. He glances quickly at me then back at the floor.

"How did you know I was even here, Doctor?" I ask.

"My wife told me. She is so angry. It's all my fault." He starts his pacing speeds up and he starts to flail his hands rapidly.

"Right." I state dryly. I take a long drag off of my cigarette and stare at the complete and utter madness the man had obviously reached. "What the hell do you want?"

"That man that's here." He goes on. He wrings his hands and faces me.

"Isaac?" I ask. "What about him?" I stiffen slightly. How the hell did he know he was alive? I dare not ask the question because I'm bound to get that his wife told him or something insane like that.

"He needs to get to the Marker and take it back to the planet." Kyne explains.

"Uh-huh. And how is he supposed to achieve that?" I ask, crossing my arms with a smirk.

"Come here." Kyne beckons. He nears the window and eyes me like an animal in a cage. I walk up to him, unsure of what he was going to do or why he wanted me so close. He stares at me. Tracing my features with his eyes. His lower lip starts to tremble slightly. The man's eyes seem so lost at what he's looking at. "Have you been near the Marker?"

I shake my head and respond, "No."

The look of confusion on his face was more confusing for me. Why would he be asking that question. I have no reason to be going down there in the first place. And I don't plan on making a death march all the way to find it for him if that's what he plans on me doing for him.

"You-" He gasps. "You've been touched by it though."

I take a step back and grip my pulse rifle tightly. "Doctor? I don't know what the hell is going on. Or what the fuck this Marker is or what it does. I haven't been near it so how in the fuck can I have been touched by it?"

"I don't know!" Kyne moans. He starts pacing again and looking at the ceiling as if pondering his answer. "This is a variable that I hadn't taken into account of. This can't possibly be."

"What are you talking about?" I bark. "You aren't making any damn sense."

"I know, hon, I'm sorry! But I need her help. She needs to get him to me. He needs to get the Marker away from here. Nothing good will come out of it staying here."

My patience is starting to wear thin now. "Damn it, Doctor. What the hell do you need from me so I can get it done?"

He stops and a morose look stares back at me through the glass. "Go to the flight deck."

"What? Why?" I question.

"You can't do it. It's not your path. You are just supposed to help. You are to stay out of the way. Not be seen. Keep him alive." He rambles off in rapid succession like he was giving me a grocery list.

I turn to leave given what little inane instructions I've been handed. Kyne continues to spew his insanity as I go. Probably not even noticing that I've left to follow out what I'm supposed to do. Whatever the hell was on the flight deck better be pretty fucking important. I walk into the long hallway again and shiver. An unbelieveable cold wraps itself around me.

"Nicole!" I yell out. "What the hell is going on here?"

There is no response and I exhale harshly. I sling my gun over my shoulder and start towards the flight deck. I open the door onto the commons area and there stands Nicole. I jump back, startled by her sudden appearance. She laughs hysterically; grabbing her sides.

"Fuck you Nicole." I utter and get on the lift.

"Hey wait!" Nicole calls. "Where are you going?"

The lift reaches the bottom and I step off. I look up at her and glare. "You should know where I'm going Nicole."

"Flight Deck?" Her voice small and mocking.

"Fuck it. Why bother dealing with you?" I snap.

"Hey Ondrea!" I look at her.

"What?" I ask in an exasperated tone.

"Grab hold of something." She states.

"Huh?" I mumble. Just as I get out my question a violent jolt shakes through the ship knocking me to my knees. My rifle clacks to the ground harshly and when I grab it. I turn to see the bloody head of one of the corpses leaning in on me. I jump to my feet. My knees throbbing and the overwhelming sense that the dead weren't going to stay that way for too much longer from some outside source made me start running for the door. I glance over my shoulder and Nicole is gone. Just like that. No "How are you?" Nothing. It figures coming from her that I wouldn't get that from her.

I step on to the tram and plug in the flight deck. I watch the flashing lights of the various departments zooming by me.

"Hey." Nicole says from beside me.

"Yeah." I grumble.

"That ship that impacted us just exploded." Nicole tells me. There was no emotion in her voice.

I turn to her. My eyes narrow waiting for her to tell me more. "And? What of Isaac? Were there any survivors?"

"Isaac is fine." She assures me. "Hammond didn't make it. The crew has been changed."

I take a step back and punch the console. "Damn it! How in the fuck did that happen?"

"Well, remember that escape pod that Hammond jettisoned containing the necromorph?" She questions.

I look at her and nod. "What of it?"

"They brought that on board and within a short period of time the entire crew was infected." She answers.

"Well that's just fucking great." I mutter, throwing my hands into the air. "For once can I get some decent fucking news?"

I start to pace when the door to the tram opens up. It wasn't going to be that long of a trip. At least it shouldn't be.

* * *

I hit the stairs to the flight deck control. My second trip here and it was a lot less eventful. Here's hoping that it stays that way. It was eerie staring into the hanger. The wreckage that got Isaac into this clusterfuck of a place is a smoldering wreck and yet just beyond that was the beauty that was the stars in the black staring back at me. I can't help but be captivated by them.

"What are you thinking about?" Nicole asks. She sits down next to me and plops a glass of coffee in front of me. I look at it and then back at her. The steam from it wafted in my direction and instantly I felt how tired I truly was. I just wanted to take a nap. My eyes were growing heavy when I propped my boots up on the control panel. My head falling forward. Sleep was the closest thing I was going to get to death at this point, in my opinion. So I embrace it.

I_ see a man. He looks terrified. His hands are bound and he's on his knees. He tries to struggle but to no avail. I see a woman. Her head is wrapped like the others a gaping hole in her skull. She lays lifeless beside the man. He looks down at her and slowly his fight subsides. _I do know him. He was one of the mechanics that worked in the engine room_. His eyes are growing wide. _What is terrifying him so?

_"This is what is meant to be. Welcome to the next step in human evolution." I hear Mercer's voice echo in my head._

_With one downward strike he hits the man in the head with a spike. The man jerks violently as it penetrates his skull. Mercer pulls the object from his head. I watch him fall to the ground with a thud next to the woman. I hear gunfire in the distance. _It's Isaac. Damn it why didn't you get there in time? You could've saved them. Why didn't you try? Why weren't you there? Why wasn't I there? Why can't this all be over? When will it be over? How will I know when it is? Will it ever be?_ I see Mercer turn and flee. I see Isaac look at the pair of limp bodies and take off after him. _Kill him Isaac. Fucking kill him.

* * *

"Ondrea! Wake up!" Nicole yells at me breaking me from my nightmare. I'm thankful for it. I don't want to see anymore. The death and destruction. I just witnessed a murder. A murder that I might have been able to do something about, but for my own damn reasons decide not to. I could have gotten them out of there told them to make it to the flight deck. I look at Nicole and wipe my eyes. Was I crying? "Are you alright?"

I shake my head. "How long was I out?" Trying to change the subject. Damn it I wish I could remember that man's name. I had only talked to him a couple of times when I was doing work down there. I feel horrible.

"Fifteen minutes." She answers. "Whatever the hell was going on, I could feel it."

"How much of my humanity am I going to have intact after this?" I ask myself under my breath. I grab the coffee cup refusing to fall back asleep. I didn't want those images anymore. They were already haunting my waking thoughts. The images so vivid. It was as if I was there. I take a quick sip from the stale hot liquid and wait. Nicole sits silently and I look over at her. Her nose is wriggled up in disgust.

"You are very much human, Drea. You just don't realize how much more human you are now." Nicole states.

I smirk and take another sip. "First off, that doesn't sound very promising in terms that I already was human before this. Secondly, I don't want to be anymore human. I just want to be me. If that's at all possible."

"You can't go back to the way you were." Nicole trails off.

I spin in the chair and glare at her. "What do you mean there is no going back? You told me that this could be fixed. You told me that everything would go back to the way it was before all this bullshit happened."

"I also said that if it didn't progress in the direction that I thought it was going to." Nicole bellows back. The all too familiar black eyes show up again. "You have crossed that line where you are beyond repair. Your only salvation to hold on to the one ounce of humanity you seem to adore is to go through with it."

I grow silent and turn away from her. I close my eyes and exhale. I feel around my pocket and grab a cigarette. "What do you mean go through with it? That fucking order you want me to carry out?"

Nicole stands up and stretches. "Yes and no."

"What do you mean by that? Why can't I know what this order is now?"

Nicole's shoulders become rigid and she kicks the chair out from under me. I flop to my back and groan. My head smacks the deck and it rattles the viper's nest of shit going on in my skull. "You want to know what it is?" She asks as she straddles my waist, pinning me to the floor. She leans real close to my face and I can feel her breath on my skin. "Let me ask you this question then- Can you kill me?"

I look at her, perplexed by that form of questioning. Hell yes I can kill her. "I don't know." What do I mean I don't know? It wouldn't be hard to kill her. She sitting right on me. I feel around for my rifle and grab the stock. Nicole sees what I'm doing and grabs my wrist and smashes it into the floor. I wince at the pain as her nails dig into my flesh.

"You can't kill me, unless I ask." Nicole hisses. A grin creeps across her face and she leans closer to me. "I'll let you in on a little secret." She pulls back and stares me down. My eyes grow wide in anticipation of what surprise she has in store for me. She leans in again. The smell of her perfume lingering close to me. "You killed Chris." She sits back and I stare at her.

"That's not possible." I stammer. "I watched him die... twice."

"You killed him, Ondrea." She says in a sing-song voice.

"Bullshit!" I yell.

"Not bullshit!" She snorts. I look at my other hand and the idea springs to my mind. _Punch her._ I swing hard and smash her square in the jaw. Nicole falls to the side of me rubbing her face. I grab the pulse rifle and point it at her. _What's to stop me from killing her right now? Who's to stop me now? "Wait!" _She yelps.

I cock the rifle. My blood is boiling. Fuck her. "No waiting!" I scream. "You say I can't kill you! Let's find out!"

_It's not time! This isn't what you are meant to do. You still need her! She hasn't given you the order to do it! She is still bound to you until I say it is time._

_"Who's I?" _ I ask the voice.

_"We are what you've been hearing. We are what you have been running towards. It has no purpose. She is still there and you cannot complete your task." The voice says._

_"Fine." _ I snort.

I put down the gun and kick Nicole in the face. "Fuck you, bitch. This is the last time you fuck me for your own personal gain."


	9. Should Have Known

What seems to be the longest day of my life shows no signs of letting down at any point. I can't help but wonder if it'll end at all with any survivors. My ponderings take a grim look at the past twenty-four hours and my heart sinks. Who's really going to survive this place? If there are any, there is no way that they are coming out the same way they came in.

One fateful mission in restricted space. One asshole who thought that evolution was the gateway to transcendence. That all would be alright and that no one would catch them as they tore apart a planet that we were not supposed to touch. But who am I to say anything. I'm just a damn engineer. I fix things. It irritates me now that in all actuality I am dead. I will not be returning from this mission as I once was. This I am certain is the whole hard truth of the matter.

"Maybe Nicole was right." I mutter to myself. I look over at Nicole. She lies motionless on the floor. Still unconscious from the boot to the head that I had pleasantly gifted her with. I smile. Fulfilled at the moment by my actions towards her. I could care less about what has or will happen it wasn't going to change the facts that while I am dead, the rest of the galaxy has no clue. No one will care. No one will mourn us. I take a sip of my coffee and sigh. I hate waiting here, but something tells me that I shouldn't leave.

Nicole stirs. Her groan, the only thing that reminds me that, in fact, I haven't killed her after all. I just made her think about her actions before she thinks about pinning me to the floor for her own damn satisfaction. I said nothing to her. Nor did I bother to look at her as she sat down next to me. She stares watching me prop my feet up and smirk.

"Was that really necessary?" She asks rubbing the side of her face. It was now bruised slightly and swollen.

I snort my approval and sigh. "Yes, it was." My only words that I could express the amount of gratitude I had for using her as a punching bag. "Maybe you'll think about what you say before you throw me to the floor." I look over at her and her head is down. She won't make eye contact with me.

There is a long silence between us. There is nothing for us to really say to one another. I proved my point. If she says that I killed Chris. For what reason, I don't know. There would be no point to kill a dead man again. Why would I do it? Maybe she's lying again. I take my actions for the first time he was skewered very seriously. Since indeed it was my fault.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, but I have unleashed my pet on your dear engineer." Mercer's voice breaks through the silence like a shriek of the dead.

I spring from the chair in an instant.

"Mercer! Don't you fucking think about it!" I scream into the comm.

"It is too late! He will be one with us." Mercer explains. The raving lunatic cackles with glee as I grab my rifle and start for the door.

"I knew I should have put a bullet in you when I had the chance." I growl as I hit the metal staircase.

Mercer continues laughing like a madman. Nicole is right behind me. She says nothing just follows a couple steps to the rear.

"No. You must stay in flight control." Kyne interrupts.

"Really. I think I have some ass to kick." I retort, never losing my pace. My eyes dart from left to right as a necromorph, black and angry starts towards me. I aim and fire without much thought. It yowls in disagreement to the assault and starts its charge at me. I keep firing, backing up slowly with each two steps it takes. Blood and mush fall to the ground in heaped messes of guck. It slowly dribbles through the grates and hits the ground. It makes one final leap towards me and my weapon clicks rapidly. "Shit!" I swing violently knocking in across its scythe like appendage. It hangs loosely from the nub of its upper arm; held together by the few strands of rotting flesh.

I keep swinging it's the best thing I can do. It screams and charges closer. I grab at its remaining swinging limb and its head stairs down at me. Its jaws open like flanges on a cupboard, wide and gaping. I can't let go of it or let it get too much closer to me than it already is. I'm now in a death lock with it.

"Here!" Nicole finally says. She tosses me a pipe and I let its nubby appendage go. It was the only change I got. I swing, smashing it alongside the head. It falls to the side in an unnatural fashion and I hack at it again. Its head rolls off and smacks the floor, jaws upward staring at me hungrily. I kick at its chest to give us some distance between each other. I look to my left and see that there is a pack of ammo that I hadn't seen there before. What the hell is going on?

I grab my rifle and dodge the headless beast's charge. Reloading the gun and feeling like I can a galactic invasion of these assholes, I fire. The rattling shaking my injured shoulder to almost bits. The pain was for lack of a better word, intense. There is nothing that is going to stop me, however. I aim at its legs and fire. Spraying and praying and watch as the holes that I create make an imperfect dotted line. The necromorph staggers and falls back a little bit. I'm almost out of ammunition again so I close my eyes half expecting the inevitable and squeeze the trigger.

The clicking starts again, but the monster hasn't reached my position yet. I open my eyes slowly and see that the monster lay in a haphazard heap in front of me. Most of it was blown to the floor and what remained was a torso, riddled with holes and motionless.

I sigh, wiping the sweat from my brow and smiling. The adrenaline wearing off made me start an instant detox effect. I start to shake and it was only natural that in those few moments, I thought that my heart was going to explode.

"Doctor Kyne, I have to go." I tell the babbling man over the comm. He hasn't stopped talking during this whole thing started. He didn't even know I was under attack. Frankly I don't think at this point that he would even care.

"No you must stay! Please!" Kyne pleas fall on deaf ears. "If you'll just-"

The comm goes dead. There is no static. The lack of sound brings me to a stop.

"What is it?" Nicole asks. I put my hand up to shush her.

"I don't know." I utter. Unsure of what had just happened. Shipboard communications shouldn't be down. They can't be. It's running off of a secondary system. The only way that someone could have shut it down is if they were-. "Son of a bitch."

"Drea?" Nicole asks. I look at her with an evil glint in my eye.

"I know where Kendra is." I state.

"How?" Nicole questions. She doesn't believe that I know. How could she? She probably just thinks that I'm rambling off locations just that I have an excuse to get away from her.

"It doesn't matter. I need to find her." I say with a determination that cannot be waned.

"Kyne said to stay here though." Nicole protests. She crosses her arms across her chest as if she was making an attempt at defying me.

"Look, Mercer sent that damn monster after Isaac. Kendra locked out my communications so now I'm blind to whatever is going on." I retort. "If you want to stay here and act like a bitch than fine. Stay. But I'm going."

"Ondrea, please." Nicole pleas. Her voice, as it always does, grates on me.

I look at her. She isn't fearful of going through the ship. She just doesn't want to go. Why the hell not? We're supposed to be keeping her boyfriend safe.

"Listen, whoever it is I'm talking to. I've sent Isaac on a fetch mission. You will not be able to get a hold of Isaac any longer at this point. You're assistance is no longer needed." Kendra's voice blares over the PA.

"What the hell do you want, Kendra?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"Nothing you should be concerned with. I'm half hoping that Mercer's pet project will hold out on killing Isaac for just a bit longer." Kendra states. She seems to be reveling in the torture she's putting Isaac through. "You do realize he's here for Nicole."

I nod and look over at the apparition. "Yes, I'm aware of that. What have you got planned for him exactly?"

"Mercer knows what's going on. He's sent that regenerator after Isaac. Isaac on the other hand is doing some task for Kyne." Nicole explains.

"So what do you plan on doing with me?" I ask her. I already know the answer, it's as plain as day.

"Leave you here, of course. You'll be marked as just another casualty of a mysterious event that has taken place. Just as Isaac will be." Kendra chortles.

"Kendra-" I start only to be interrupted by the comm going dead again. "Damn it!"

"So Kendra is behind all of this?" Nicole asks.

I shake my head and look at the door that I was about to go through to get to the flight lounge. The door is locked. "Fuck." I mutter. I walk over to the control panel and see that all control had been sent over to the central computer. "I'm going to kill her." I state under my breath.

I don't know whether to cry or hit the person next to me. While the former wouldn't exactly be a mark of weakness at this point, the latter wouldn't be any help either. I sigh again and take out my cigarette. My fingers leave blood stains on the paper, but I worry not about it. There wasn't time to dilly dally about the sanitary nature of cigarettes.

"Maybe you should go back to the control room." Nicole suggests. She looks around to see if there are anymore predators in our vicinity. I say nothing to her. It seems like a plausible idea given that I'm locked out of the rest of the ship, but would it really change anything? My hands are tied and I have no way to get to Isaac.

"What do you mean I should go back to the control room? Aren't you coming too?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow as a show of my own amusement.

"I am going with you." Nicole states. She seems distant now towards me. Part of me doesn't see the fact that she isn't the same conniving bitch that only a little while ago was screaming for my blood. Yet, her tone isn't very reassuring.

"Then let's go." I order her propping the rifle up on my shoulder. I walk passed her and head back up the stairs. My heavy boots rattle the rickety metal and the creaking made sounds that itself was going to fall apart and right out from under my feet.

I open the door and throw the gun at the wall. I'm hoping that if there are any monsters near me that they'd hear the noise and start running towards me. The pulsing in my brain lets up for a split second and I see it…

* * *

"_Dr. Mercer has locked the doors! Isaac, you need to get out of there!" Kendra yells. Her concern, a lie. _Obviously._ "Do you have what we need?"_

"_I got them." Isaac states. His breath rapid and a crash from the ceiling send him running again. He runs toward a door and sees that it's locked._

"_Hold on Isaac, I'll get them open." Kendra states._

_The regenerator bursts through the ceiling and swipes at Isaac. He dodges and runs into a corner_. Why is he running into a corner?_ He slows it with the stasis module and runs around it to put some distance between him and it._

"_You will be one with us, Isaac." Mercer mocks through his comm._

"_Isaac! The door is open move!" Kendra orders._

_Isaac bolts for the door and…_

The whispering shifts me to a different scene. Where am I? What am I doing? What is Mercer doing? Why are you on your knees?

"_I await your gift!" Mercer decrees, his arms spread wide and I hit him. The pointy straw of a… necromorph impales him in the cranium like he had once done to that couple and all those countless other people._

_I feel his life force slipping as the poison I'm secreting into him fills up the cavity I've created. When I've completed my task I let him fall like the pile of trash that he is. Like he'd done to so many others. _How karma works. Is it really though? Is it really? He wanted it to happen. Fucking Unitologists.

* * *

My vision goes black and in this void, it all makes sense. The writings, the whispers, everything. I know what he's thinking and doing at any given moment. It's like flipping through channels. Whatever force is trying to show me still makes no sense. Is this the power that I have? Can I do it to someone like Kendra? Can I destroy Nicole with a thought?

My vision returns. The throbbing completely gone now and what is left is a knowledge and understanding of all things good and evil in the universe. What answer do I have now with all the questions that I've posed to Nicole and Chris?

"Nicole!" I say out loud. I don't see her anywhere in the control room. Where did she go? I go to the window and peer down to see if she was on the deck. There is no trace of her at all. "She's gone." I mumble. Half of me is nervous about being alone. The other is elated about being alone and without her heckling and snide remarks.

A subtle crackle comes up over the comm. I can make out the voice faintly.

"Ondrea. This is Doctor Kyne." The whispered voice says. "Can you hear me?"

I look around and shrug. Nothing could surprise me anymore.

"I'm here Doctor. What do you need?" I ask as I sit down and prop my feet on the chair next to me. I pull my helmet off and drop it beside me and wait for him to reply.

"You are still in flight control?" He asks.

"Yeah. I'm still here." I answer back. I run my fingers through my hair and lay my head against the back of the chair.

"Really?" Kyne's voice rings as if he shocked to know that I'm here. "I thought you were on your way to Isaac." He stops and clears his throat. "My wife wants you to know that Isaac is on his way to get the emergency shuttle."

"Alright." I remark with a sigh. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. Stay right there." Kyne responds. There is a long pause and followed by, "Don't worry, I didn't tell him you were here."

It is strange how he states that. He almost seems to think that is a cursory option that needs to be explained.

"Well once this emergency shuttle is up here, what do you want me to do? Can I get to the shuttle?" I ask. My heart skips a beat about the thought of getting out of here.

"No. Once Isaac gets the Marker on to the shuttle we're taking it down to the planet." Kyne explains.

"What about me?" I yell.

"You are staying. You've been tainted by the Marker. My wife told me so." Kyne flippantly snaps.

"Kyne! You son of a bitch!" I scream into the comm. I jump out of the chair and start towards the door. From the other side of it I hear the scraping of clawed feet on the stairs. I press my ear to the door and from the other side I can hear the breathing of a necromorph. I pull away from it and a sharp thud hits the door with such a force I think it'll break through and that'll be the end of it.

* * *

"Emergency shuttle set into docking bay for lift off." The computer's voice chimes.

I run to the window and see the shuttle there and walking on the gangway was Kyne strolling up to the shuttle. He opens the door and looks up at me. He smiles and waves and enters the shuttle with nary a thought.

"Kyne! What the hell do you think you're doing?" I call over to the cockpit. "Where's Isaac? What did you do to him?" I wait and the buzz over the speaker tells me that the signal is getting through. I push the call button repeatedly hoping that insane son of a bitch will answer me. He owes me that much.

"I'm so sorry, Ondrea, but this has to be done. You have to forgive me." Kyne's voice rings over the speaker.

"Come on, Kyne, think about this. I've done as you asked. Why won't you get me out of here?" I plea to him. I don't want to stay here. Maybe I should.

"No, no, no, my dearest won't let that happen. Isaac has to bring aboard the Marker and then we will be free of this place." Kyne babbles.

I let go of the button and mutter, "Fuck."

"It's probably for the best." Nicole says from behind me. I look over at her and stare.

"This was your plan the whole time?" I stammer. "You never wanted me to leave, did you?"

Nicole frowns at the accusation and shakes her head. She looks out the window and sees Isaac. Behind him is the oddest creation I have ever seen. It is so beautiful an object that I am astounded that they had found it at all to begin with. It is so well preserved that even I want to be close to it.

In an instant the dead whispers come back. I shut my eyes at the breathtaking pain. I clench my teeth, praying that whole damn thing would end. I feel Nicole place her hand on my shoulder and gently squeeze. I slowly open my eyes and see her watching me.

"It's alright. It's almost over." She coos. She brushes my hair out of my face and smiles, like a mother would to a child.

I feel two more hands touch me and I turn to see who it is. I'm greeted by those same blue eyes and striking features. A small smile fills in the void and a small string of blood drops out of the corner.

"Chris?" I gasp. "How? Why?"

He presses his finger to my lips to hush me and his face turns from that of delight to serious. I don't know how to respond. There are no words for what I'm feeling.

"Chris is dead." Nicole states. I feel the pressure from her hand grow heavier.

I shake my head. "No, he's right here."

"It's all in your head, Ondrea." The third person says from behind me.

"It's not possible. I can see him right here. Why can't you see him?" I plea to the voice with a sadness that aches. I look at Chris again and he is gone. I blink quickly and there standing in his place is me. Very naked. The same red eyes and heavy and erotic smile she had before.

"I need you to do something, Ondrea." She states in a calm voice.

"We need you to do something." Nicole corrects. I look at her.

"What's that?" I ask as I turn my attention back to Isaac. The Marker was still making its slow trek to the cargo bay of the shuttle.

I stand there watching as Isaac turns off the artificial gravity. His grace and slight disorientation was something that was worthwhile to watch. Me, myself, and Nicole stare out the window as he disappears from view.

The artificial gravity returns and Kyne comes into view from the shuttle. A single gunshot rings out and Kyne falls. I see Kendra walking towards the shuttle.

"Sorry, Isaac. I didn't want it to be this way, but this is how it has to be." Kendra says. The boosters to the shuttle ignite and I watch as the shuttle makes its way to the hanger and start to disappear into the darkness.

I look over at Nicole and she shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. You'll take care of it."

I nod and whisper, "Isaac come up to the control booth."

Just as soon as I finish the words, Isaac abruptly turns and heads off the catwalk and back in my general direction. I can hear him on the stair steps. His footsteps rapid as well as his breathing. He opens the door and I hold my breath.

"It's okay." Nicole whispers in my head. "He sees me."

"I'm so glad to see you again, Isaac." I state. My heart filling with elation. I turn to the panel and press a button. "Use the gravity tether and we will bring the Marker back.

I look over at Isaac and he's staring at me. The glow from his helm shines brightly as if to blind me.

"Nicole, I-" He starts.

"Shhh." I whisper.

He turns and presses the button. I turn back to him to say something and over the speaker Kendra's voice is heard. "Damn it, Isaac what are you doing?" A small pod jettisons and falls towards the planet.

"Damn it." Isaac growls.

"It's alright." I answer. I watch as the shuttle comes back to the docking area. "Go ahead. I'll be right there and we can take it back so we can be whole Isaac."

Damn those words again.

Isaac starts for the door and then stops. I look back at him and smile faintly. I nod for him to go and he shutters.

"Not too much longer." I hear myself say.

"I know." I respond.

"Go then. Fulfill what you are supposed to do." Nicole says.

I start for the door and stop myself.

"It's alright." Nicole urges me on with a smile. "Just remember what you are supposed to do."

"Are you sure about this?" I ask.

They both nod and smile. I turn back towards the door and head down the stairs after Isaac.

He makes it to the shuttle first and I follow. I stand in the entrance and see him there. If I could run up and hug him for surviving I would. I need that right now. Human contact. The be all end all. Tell him thank you for surviving that my actions aren't in vain.

I take my seat next to him and smile. He looks over at me and I know he's smiling back. I can feel it.

"Let's end this, Isaac." I murmur.

Isaac presses the button on the console and the shuttle takes off. Destination: Hell. The end of it all. Where I should be laying my life down for him and yet he has no idea who I am. I wish it would stay that way. He has no reason to know me. The way Nicole toiled with our heads was enough to make any person hate the sight of another. But we are kindred spirits who faced down death on numerous occasions.

I look out the window and see the Ishimura floating in space. It is a dead ship with a dead crew floating above a dead planet. Nothing made me feel sicker in that moment. All the people I have lost, my parents, friends all gone and I have survived. And for what? To see the end of everything, just as before.

"We're going to hit reentry." Isaac warns. His gloved hand caresses mine.

I nod and watch as the whole universe turns white.


	10. A Distance There Is

I wake. The throbbing from my head hitting the back of my seat greets me. I look over and see Isaac. He's unconscious, but alive. It would be so terrible to die now just because of the not so subtle impact we have experienced. I release my harness and gasp at the tightness in my chest. I rub it feverishly trying to make the pain stop.

"Isaac." I whisper as I nudge his shoulder. I take a moment to examine him with my fingers. It was the first time I had touched him physically. The plates of his engineering suit are marred with multiple chips, gashes and dents from the onslaught of attacks that he was under. I sigh and watch him for a minute longer and nudge him again. "Isaac." I coo to him.

He groans and grabs my hand. My eyes grow wide as he stares at me. I know he's watching me to see my response. Examining me with his eyes and his own senses his grip tenses around my hand. He shutters with relief and releases me.

"Are you alright?" He asks. He releases his harness without looking at it; never taking his eyes off of me.

I nod to him and stand. I hold my hand out and smile. "It's almost over Isaac." He grabs my hand and I pull him up. He jumps up with such force that I nearly fall back into the seat behind me. He catches me and pulls me close to him.

Even through all the armor I can hear his heartbeat. It was rapid and his breathing was steady and calm. Like for the first time in a long while he's found peace. I look up at him and smile faintly. Foolish me for thinking that his heart is singing for me. He thinks that I'm Nicole. I pull myself away from his grasp and nod for the door. The sooner I get this over with the better- for both of us.

I walk on to the platform and look up. The hot sun beaming down on the remnants of the facility radiated its heat on me. I shield my eyes and survey the scene. We are far from alone in this place. There are things here. Monstrous things with jagged teeth and scythe-like claws that would love to disembowel us. I take two steps and stop. There are voices, whispering in old archaic texts. Some of which I can make out but others are like listening to old Sanskrit for the first time.

I look back at Isaac and smile. I'm dooming us both. I know this. Out of the frying pan and into the fire doesn't give the right context of the trouble that we are facing. Isaac has no clue, but I do and I want to apologize. Tell him everything, but every time I think of the words to say they are shoved out by the whispers and reminders; the orders that I am to follow like I'm some automaton. The air hints of rotting blood in the heat and I breathe it in heavily. Twenty-four hours ago this colony was booming and now it is a land of the dead.

"Bring the Marker, Isaac." I tell him as I make my way down the ramp.

I walk across the platform. My boots thudding and I look over my shoulder to the large crater from where we had cracked the planet. The massive hole that damned everyone stared back at me and a tingling sensation forms at the back of my skull. I shudder and keep walking. I try to keep from look at the chasm, try to avoid listening to the voices.

I hear the conveyer system stalling and the scraping of metal from the Marker. I hurry my step. I wouldn't be long now. I would be free of this place and the chains that bind me. I reach the control panel and press a button to open the shutters. There is no response.

"Damn it." I mutter under my breath. I look over at the breaker and see that it is blown and sigh.

"Don't worry about it. It'll be perfect." Nicole states amidst the swirling voices. "He'll have to get a new one."

I stop and watch as Isaac walks back up to me. He looks so exhausted, even with all his gear on. He looks over at me and then the shutters. He sighs heavily and crosses his arms. His posture tells me he's annoyed and frayed at the situation.

"We need power restored. Could you get another fuse?" I ask as I turn back to the control panel. I hear his footsteps walking away from me. I glance up and watch him walk through the door to a maintenance shed. I stop pressing buttons and lean against the control panel.

"Are you ready?" Nicole asks.

I rub my eyes and nod. "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"I'm sure." Nicole answers.

"Are you going to take care of him?" I ask. "He's come so far-"

Nicole puts her hand up to stop me and smiles. "You've done what you are supposed to. His fate is out of your hands now."

Her words give me little solace. I'd saved his life countless times and relied on blind luck to save myself. Now I have to take the word of a dead person; one he doesn't even know is dead yet, to make sure that he's safe.

I walk back to the shuttle and grab a cigarette and my pulse rifle. Nicole looks at me from the door with a half-cocked smile. Something draws her attention from outside.

"_Do it now. She's of no use to you anymore." _A voice orders from inside my head.

I put the rifle in the seat and watch as Nicole stares at whatever is causing a commotion. One by one I remove my gloves and toss them next to my gun. I feel around my pocket and feel the scalpel that Nicole had placed there before we left the Ishimura. I pull it out of my pocket and take two steps towards her. She has no idea I'm there; ready to kill her beyond my own control.

"How the hell did she-" Nicole starts. I grab her by the hair and slide the razor sharp blade across her throat. Nicole struggles little as the blade digs deeper into her flesh. Her hair coiled in my hand tugs as she turns to look at me. A spark of fear crosses her eyes and she reaches up towards her neck. Smearing the running blood up to her face she begins to panic. She pulls and yanks and tries to fight but I won't let her go. "You weren't supposed to do it this way." She chokes out. The gaping wound in her neck expands with each swallow of blood she takes.

"Plans change." I whisper in her ear. I throw her to the floor and pounce. Slashing and stabbing her, sending sprays and splashes of blood everywhere. In arcing strokes I feel the blade sink through the muscle and she gurgles violently as I begin to twist the blade.

She can't fight me no more. Her blood flows quickly and pools around her. "It was supposed to be you." She repeats over and over again. Her voice grows softer and softer with each round.

"I followed my orders, Nicole, just like you told me to. Just like you thought I couldn't." I respond as I walk passed her and into the bathroom. I take a drag off of the cigarette and look at myself in the mirror. My hair drips with blood and the cigarette jutting out of my mouth is saturated with blood. I pinch it between my fingers and flick the ash of it into the sink. My hands red with her blood leave more stains on the paper, but relaxing attributes of the long drags far outweigh the disgust.

I can see the change in me now- for better or for worse. Of that I am not certain. I'm no longer me. I am supposed to be me again. No more voices. No more Isaac trapped in my head, his pain my pain. His emotions my emotions. Yet they remain. Still lingering in my mind as if nothing had happened.

I roll my eyes and strip out of my armor and reach into the compartment and grab a jumpsuit and boots. Pulling the jumpsuit on and tying it at the waist with the arms I look out the door to see if anyone was coming. I can hear the noises and gunfire, but like Nicole said before: my job was done. He is in Nicole's hands now. At least she's out of my hair. I look over to see her crumpled body and she is gone.

"There goes another bit of my humanity." I half-jest to myself. I chuckle softly and close my eyes for a second. I hear footsteps outside and open my eyes. I spring to my feet and peek out the door. I see Isaac outside the maintenance shed with the fuse. I smile and start back towards my seat when I hear from outside:

"Nicole? Nicole? Where did she go?"

If I have any remaining free will at this point I refuse to use it. I walk to the shuttle window and watch as Isaac resumes towing along the Marker slowly.

"Make us whole, Isaac." I plea to him under my breath.

I shudder again and my skin begins to break out in goosebumps. I can't tell if the whole planet has shifted into an ice age, but I am freezing. It pains me to move my fingers or move in general.

"_He's bringing the Marker."_ The voice says.

"I know." I respond.

"_Is he the sacrifice?"_ It asks.

"I really don't know." I answer as I shake off the violent tremors I'm having.

* * *

I have put so much stock in what I've been told and what I have learned. It's more than I can bear. At the snap of a finger I can witness anything I want. I can control anything at the mere thought of it. I could kill him with one of those monsters if I really want to. Maybe I don't want him to be a sacrifice, maybe I want to say "fuck you," to everything. My life, that damned Marker, Nicole, Chris, and the voice with its seething words. So full of hate and loathing when it speaks to me.

It's blind and in the dark. I know that. The Marker fights it with all its might and is somehow inactive. What is the mystery behind this object? How does it work? How the fuck did I get in this predictiment? So many questions and not enough answers. And what of Isaac? How will he cope when he finds the truth? What will he do? What has Nicole been doing to him? More questions and no answers at all. I know how she twisted Kyne's mind around her finger to get him to do what she wanted. What about Mercer? That crackpot was right. Evolutionary steps take lives- the weak die the strong continue on.

I close my eyes tightly and feel a sudden pain in my gut. I gasp and it happens again. _What is going on in there?_ The pain is so strong now that I feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. I can't take too much more and my head grows heavy_. Damn it, Isaac! Be more careful!_

* * *

The ground shakes subtly and I can hear the Marker chiming in my head as it gets closer to its destination. Not too much longer and the monster in the hole will have what it wants. The sacrifice it's been waiting for. The destruction of the Marker. Its salvation. I smile almost gleeful that the damn thing will be destroyed.

"Where's Isaac?" I hear Kendra's voice behind me.

I don't open my eyes or turn around. I listen instead and wait for her to approach me. I hear her boots walking up to me and the subtle swishing sound of her hair.

"He went to the dig site, Kendra." I answer with a sigh. I'm bored of her already. Fucking bitch try to leave me to die. I half wish she had.

"You know who I am?" She asks with a shock in her voice.

I nod and look at her. "Of course I do." I stand up from my seat and take a step towards her. I rest my hand on the back of the chair and stare at her. "I know all about you."

She folds her arms across her chest. She takes a standoffish posture and smirks. "You are a very smart girl. Too smart for your own good."

I smile at her and take another step towards her. She in turn takes a step back. "I'm glad you think so." I look at my watch and back at her. "You are running out of time."

She glares at me and shakes her head. "You have no idea why I'm here."

"_You know who she is. Look at her."_ The voice finally chimes in.

"You work for EarthGov." I respond. Her mouth drops open. "Yes. I'm not that stupid. You want the Marker."

"How can you-?" She stammers.

I look at my watch again and then back at her. "You are wasting time dealing with me."

She nods and smiles. "I have some loose ends to deal with first." She starts to pull her pistol and I grab her wrist.

"You won't be doing anything that stupid now would you?" I hiss as I squeeze her. She looks at me and shakes her head. "That's a smart girl." I pause and look her over. "What are you going to do with Isaac?"

She pauses as if she's thinking of an answer. "He's going to be marked as a casualty of the disaster."

"Sounds fair. Keep talking." I respond. I blow a strand of hair out of my face and release my grip on her. "I want out of here."

"I can do that." Kendra states. She starts back towards the door. "Do we have a deal? The Marker for your life?"

"We have a deal." I answer. I sit back in my seat and close my eyes.

I already know she's lying. She'll try to get the Marker and then she'll come back to stab me in the back. Typical EarthGov shit. I'm not stupid.

* * *

_Isaac has left the warehouse. Necromorphs are reaching his location in droves. He stops and fires. He's afraid. Terrified by the amount of fight these bastards have._

"I'm doing this for Nicole."_ He mutters._

_He keeps firing and slowly makes his way to the tracks. In an instant arms shoot from the canyon. Large ropey arms that seem to go on forever. It is a beautiful sight. Isaac is scared. His heart races and he fires to make them leave. Each one that falls another one takes his place further up. He can hear screams behind him and he sees two necromorphs crawling out of the window._

"Damn it."_ He utters as he opens fire on them. When they fall he turns back to the skyward tendrils._

_The Marker is vibrating and the earth beneath his feet shakes. I can feel it too all the way over here. The monster awaits. They all await the return of the device._

_"At last." _The voice hisses.

_"Yes, yes. A deal is a deal." _I answer flippantly.

_"Isaac you've done it." Nicole says. She glows with raw energy. There's something not right about this. The way she looks like an angel a total lie. "Break the connection and bring down the sky."_

_"Are you sure?" Isaac asks._

_Nicole nods and I scowl to myself. He walks over to the console and pushes the button to deactivate the tether. A warning klaxon starts and I jump from my seat._

_"Damn. She actually did it." I smile to myself._

_"It is time for the sacrifice!" The voice bellows in my ears._

_"No." _I answer._ "Not yet."_

_"We long for-" _The voice starts.

_"I don't care what you are longing for. I said not yet." _I argue_._

_The voice growls in my head and I sit back down._

_"You never finished that video." Kendra's snide voice comes through. "You really have no idea. Play it Isaac."_

_The earth shakes violently and I can hear metal pipes clattering to the ground. I care not. If the pit monster wanted to kill something or someone; why not me? I'm right here. I'm the one that's arguing with it._

_I gasp and I start to cry. Is that- Isaac? He's crying?_

_"I'm sorry you had to find out this way Isaac. But EarthGov wants the Marker and I'm the one to take it back." Kendra explains._

_The slow reverberations from the Marker start to die off._

_"You need to run Isaac." _I tell him.

_"The sacrifice!" _The angry voice screams at me_._

_"Don't worry. I'll be it."_ I respond._ "You need one. Then take me." The voice goes silent. The whispers and alien languages die away as well. "I take it we have a deal by your silence?" There is no response._

* * *

The conveyor starts to whir as Kendra starts to bring back the Marker. I smile when I realize that my end has come. My job was to save Isaac and that's what I'm doing with what little energy I have. The cart stops near the shuttle and I hear Kendra approaching the door. She peaks in and I'm standing there with a smile on my face. The time has come and we are all going to pay for it. She turns back and the smile she had is now gone.

"You are going to stay, Isaac. I'm sorry." Kendra calls to him

I grin and take my seat again.

_"She's trying to take the Marker."_ I tell the voice.

_"She can't. It is ours."_ It says.

A long tentacled arm shoots from the pit and picks Kendra up. I close my eyes and listen to the glee that the monster has. He shakes her violently and throws her to the deck. I smile. She's not the only one who can play the game of deceit. I just happened to have a behemoth of a monster on my side.

_"A deal is a deal. End it."_ I tell the monster.

_"We can't."_ It says.

I jump from my seat and look out the window. The whole area is shrouded in darkness as the monster that makes up the second half of my conversations rises. It slams a tentacle down around Isaac and grabs at him.

_"That's not-"_ I start.

_"We agreed on nothing."_ It growls.

_"Fuck!"_ I yell.

I hear gunshots and watch as Isaac runs from side to side trying to avoid the onslaught of attacks. My ears start screaming in pain and I feel the monster recoil. The whispers are intense and painful. They scream and shout and I realize it now. I'm inside of its head.

It picks Isaac up and flails him around like a rag doll.

_"He will be ours."_ It hisses.

_"Put him down!"_ I screech.

It is a long and arduous fight. I hear the click of Isaac's rifle and I start to panic. He can't take too much more of this. It picks him up again and pulls it closer to its angry mouth. This is my only chance. I take the clip out of my rifle and run out of the shuttle. I lob it over and yell for him to take it, but with the warning alarms and roaring from the beast I doubt he can hear me at all. Isaac pulls his plasma cutter and takes aim but mid shot the giant growth flings him and he loses it.

I run over to it and pick it up. I hear the rapid fire of the rifle and I point and aim. I only have one round. I have to make it count. I squeeze the trigger and the hive mind yowls in pain slamming Isaac to the ground. I want to run to him and see if he is alive, but we are all but out of time.

I run back to the shuttle and get ready to leave if need be. Quick on my heels is Isaac. He's gripping his side and limping, but he's alive. I hide in the seat at the back and don't make a sound. He sits in the pilot's seat and starts the launch sequence. Fifteen seconds till that large hunk of planet falls back to the planet and destroys us all. He slams the button and we're off. It was more violent than reentry and I smack my head into the wall. I see stars and then black.

_I don't know if we made it. I really don't care at this point._

* * *

I awake to Nicole's voice. It's sad and remorseful.

"Damn. She survived." I mutter to myself.

"I loved you. I always loved you." She says.

The cabin goes dark and I peer over the seat at Isaac. He had put his helm down and his head hangs low. I can hear the whispers. I thought they would be gone. There is something here. Isaac can sense it too. He looks over at the co-pilot seat and there it is staring at him.

"Nicole?" He stammers.

In an instant the necromorph pounces and throws him out of his seat. He struggles with it but his body is starting to give out. I stand from the seat and walk over to the pair of combatants and smile. Isaac looks up me and is stunned.

"Ah, Nicole." I start. The necromorph screams and its spine flails wildly. "You just have a magically way of always appearing at the most inopportune times."

I grab the rifle off the seat and open fire. It's a stupid thing to do; given that we are in space and all. Nicole yowls and jumps off of Isaac and lunges at me. I take a step back and keep firing. Isaac lays there watching the whole scene.

"How?" He questions.

"A little help and then I'll answer your questions." I yell to him. He springs to his feet and grabs his own rifle. He opens fire and Nicole shrieks and falls to the floor. Its black blood oozes out of every of every orifice. I sling the rifle to my shoulder and smile. "Not bad."

Isaac says nothing. He looks at the bloody matted hair of Nicole and then at me. I smile meekly at him and slip a cigarette in between my lips. He starts to protest and I shake my head as I light my cigarette.

"Who are you?" Isaac asks dropping the gun to the floor.

"Ondrea Markum. Second engineer of the USG Ishimura." I tell him. "I'm the one that saved your life."

He stares blankly at me. His confusion marked by the lines on his face. "I don't understand."

"I know that it's a lot to take in." I confess to him. "Trust me, I know. I'm not quite sure how this all works either."

"But-" Isaac stammers.

"Look I've had a long fucking day. I've dealt with the bullshit longer than you." I bark.

He looks back at Nicole and stares.

"Sorry about Nicole." I whisper.

He shakes his head and sighs. "I just wish I'd gotten here sooner."

I cock my head at his remark and my shoulders slump.

"I understand that. She was the driving force behind both of us." I say. He gives me a questioning look. I shrug and walk over to him. I let the barrel of the rifle fall into my hand. "There's a lot to explain and not a lot of time to do it in." I suddenly and abruptly butt strike him to the side of the head. He falls to the floor unconscious. "I'll explain it tomorrow." I take a drag of my cigarette and sit down in the seat. I look down at Isaac and sigh. "Tomorrow you are going to save my life." I prop my feet up and sigh.

_Here's hoping that the final order actually works._


	11. I've Abandoned Control

It's only been a few hours since leaving Aegis VII. I sit in the pilot's seat, staring into the void of space. I should be happy now. I'm free of the terror and death, but honestly, I'm filled with dread. How many people did I leave to die? How is it fair that we survived and they did not?

"It's not fair." I mutter to myself. I look on the ground next to me and stare at Isaac. I'm sorry I had to do what I did, but I panicked. It had been so long since a person acknowledged me that when he didn't instantly call me Nicole, I didn't know what to do.

I slink to my hands and knees and crawl over to him. Rolling him onto his back, he mutters incoherently and I freeze. It is terrifying being so close to him. I look him over to see how bad the damage I had created is. The raised bruise and blood that oozed from the gash took me back. I bite my lower lip and sigh. I look around and see the scalpel still on the seat.

I reach over as slowly as I can and start to close my fingers around it when a gloved hand grabs my wrist. My eyes grow wide and the intensity at which I'm being held increases. I look down and Isaac is glaring at me. His jaw clenches repeatedly and I drop the scalpel quickly. I can't struggle with him. The position at which I'm at puts me at a strong disadvantage. I grunt softly as he bends my wrist in an unnatural way. He slowly sits up, wincing at the pain in his head.

"What are you doing?" He asks. His glaring causes me to look away from him. I am full of shame in an instant.

"I- I-" I stutter out. I can't think of what to tell him. I feel like a small child. Not some battle hardened woman who's come from the edge of hell and returned relatively unscathed.

"What are you doing?" He repeats. His voice is angrier and the pressure in my arm feels ready to give in to fracturing.

I look down at my lap and sigh. If apologies could be made they would be, but at this point I'm pretty sure we're past that point. My hands ball into fists and I sniffle. "I'm sorry." The only two words I can eke out. "I was going to take care of the blood." I look up at Isaac and his cold features soften and he scowls.

"I'm fine." He mutters as he looks around the cabin and then back at me. His grip lessens. I try to pull my hand away but his death grip returns and his demeanor changes yet again. "Who the hell are you?"

"It's a lot to explain." I stammer. There is no real beginning to where everything went wrong. Hell, I have no clue when and where it all went wrong. I just have what I've been doing and what's been going on with me and if I tell him any of that he probably won't believe me in the first place.

"Well?" He questions me, shocking me out of my thoughts. I don't know how long the silence was between us but it was long enough for him to release me from his grasp and to lean back on to his hands in anticipation of what I have to say. I look at him and frown. The blood runs down his face and drips onto his suit. He doesn't take notice. He's fixated his attention on me.

I open my mouth to start and then shake my head. "You'll never believe me." I respond. I rub the throbbing from my wrist and stand. His eyes follow me as I start to pace about the cabin. "It's a lot to take in, to be sure." I ramble off trying to avoid eye contact with him. I make one circuit and glance at him. His eyes lock on mine and I hesitate to start again. "You'll think I'm crazy." I almost scream at him when he raises his eyebrow to me.

Isaac sighs and stands up. He shakes off some of the discomfort and I listen to his neck cracking and the enjoyable grunts that he makes as his vertebrae pop and snap. He opens his eyes and looks down at me. "Stop. Just stop." He orders as he grabs my shoulders. "I understand you're nervous, but who are you? What happened?"

I blink at him and take a step back. "Ondrea Markum." I mutter as I walk to the back of the cabin. I need to find something to occupy my attention from the awkward kindness that he is thrusting at me. I open a compartment and look for something anything, it doesn't really matter.

"Alright, Ondrea." Isaac states with an exaggerated sigh. "What do you do?"

I look up as far as I can into the cabinet. I can barely see anything and I stand on tip-toe to get a better look. I see the white box and smile. "Engineer." I reach up to pull the box down but my fingers barely grace the side of it. I strain further when the pain in my shoulder starts to throb and the all too familiar dampness spills down my side. "I was second in command for the day crew aboard the Ishimura." I explain. I stretch further and my tongue slightly peeks out from between my lips and I grunt from the pain.

Finally, a hand comes from the side of me and I sink down to my heels and see Isaac standing there. He grabs the box and hands it to me with a faint smile. I return the gesture and walk passed him to the seat. I wince at the pain and cut away the gauze that had protected my injuries from the outside. Isaac sits across the aisle from me and watches as I slowly and delicately clean away the moist blood.

"What happened?" Isaac asks. He looks at my wound and frowns. My hands start to shake and I become more and more hesitant to clean it up. He leans closer to me and picks up a piece of gauze and starts to blot the blood from the small tear that has formed. I groan and he stops. "It looks like you've had a hell of a time."

"You don't know the half of it." I snort. Isaac pulls his hand away and I sigh. The lack of touching felt more exhilarating than anything else. I grab a needle and thread and take a sharp breath. Sticking the needle into my flesh and slowly pulling it through. My skin screamed in agony as I begin to stitch myself up.

"How did you survive?" Isaac asks. He watches me sew up the tattered rags of my flesh. I feel myself become flushed as I pull the final ends of thread through. How do I explain to him that Nicole and Chris were the ones that got me here?

"Luck." I state as I slather on a copious amount of ointment and begin to wrap it again. I look up at Isaac and I can tell he's not satisfied with the answer. I smirk and tape the end shut. "A lot of luck." I press to him. "You have no fucking clue."

We sit there in silence as I begin to take off my shirt. I don't bother hesitating what would be the point. If Isaac had a problem with it then he can go out the nearest airlock like his lover turned necromorph. I pull back the bandage on my side and grunt. It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.

"You were there the whole time." Isaac states. I stop peering at my wound and stare at him. Nothing shocks me anymore. So what if he figures it out? "You-"

"Before you begin." I interrupt. "You need to realize that I did what I had to do to survive." I stop and grab my bloodstained shirt and gently pull it back over my head. "I killed people. I had no choice. You were my top priority." Isaac stares at me with confusion. If I had been in his shoes I would understand. I exhale and close the kit and drop it on the floor. I lean closer to him as I prop my elbows on my knees and stare at him. "My family is dead, my friends. Chris. Nicole."

Isaac doesn't move and he shows no emotion. "You knew Nicole?"

I stand up and scratch my head. "Yeah, I knew Nicole." I scoff. "I knew her more than I wanted to." Looking over at Isaac I notice that his mind has wandered to the obvious place of missing Nicole. "You want the truth?" Isaac nods. "She was the one that got me to where I am now." I hesitate and chuckle nervously. "It sounds stupid, I know."

"No. It doesn't. I saw Nicole in various places." Isaac states as his head falls in his hands.

"That wasn't Nicole." I correct. "That was me."

Isaac glares at me with a cold, hard contempt. "Don't."

"I figured you wouldn't get it." I say with a sigh. I flop into the seat and prop my feet up on the wall. "You heard voices of the dead. Saw Nicole doing all these fantastical things for you. Yet you never gave it a second thought that it could be someone else." I snicker at his naivete. "I can't blame you. You came here for her. There's nothing wrong with holding out hope that you might save her."

"Don't patronize me." Isaac barks. "You don't have-"

"A fucking clue." I interject. I glare at him. A chunk of hair falls into my face and I look forward again. "My best friend died trying to save me." I let my feet fall to the floor and I stand up. I look down at Isaac and a renewed rage fills me to the brim. "I killed my parents when they turned into those fucking monstrosities."

Isaac looks up at me at a loss for words. "I didn't mean-"

"You're damn right you didn't mean anything!" I yell as I shove Isaac and walk passed him. "I had just as much as you to lose as you did if not more. I watched people that I worked with on a daily basis die right in front of me. I had dead people haunt me just to save your fucking difficult ass! Don't you dare say I don't have a fucking clue! You have no right!" My eyes well with tears and I cover my face as I start to sob. It has been so long since I finally let loose and let what I have had pent up inside of me go. "And now-" I choke out between gasping sobs. "I have one more thing that I have to do. One last order to carry through and then this will be over with."

Isaac stands up and pulls me close to him. He squeezes me tight and sighs. He runs his fingers through my hair deftly. "What is there left to do? What are you talking about?" I pull my head back and my eyes meet his.

"You really don't want to know. We don't need to worry about it right now." I try to assure him. But I'm failing both of us. It is inevitable. I have to go through with this or I'll be damned to stay this tormented soul for the rest of my life. Isaac drops his arms and leads me back to the co-pilot's seat. I watch as he activates a distress beacon and rubs his eyes.

I look out the window and close my eyes. The image still remains. The darkness with twinkling lights and I begin to hum.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star." I whisper softly.

"You heard that song?" Isaac asks. I nod without opening my eyes.

"How I wonder what you are." I continue.

"Stop." Isaac insists.

"Up above the world so high." I sing louder. _What is going on? _The words coming from my mouth sound more like a trance than a nursery rhyme. I can't stop, even if I want to.

"I said stop!" Isaacs voice heralds a warning. He grabs my upper arm and I open my eyes finally.

I sniffle softly and wipe my nose. The bright red streak of blood runs heavily across my finger and my ears begin to ring. A slow drip starts from my lobes and I reach up and feel. I can feel the dampness and I look at my fingers again. More red. I slowly manipulate the fluid between my fingers and thumb.

Isaac pulls his hand off of my arm and gasps. "What the fuck?" He jumps from the seat and makes his way to the medical kit. I hear him rummaging through it and quickly he appears at my side again. He presses a wad of gauze into my ear and looks at me. "What the hell is going on with you?" He breaths out as he grabs another piece of gauze and holds them in place.

"Scared?" I ask sarcastically. I smile at him as I fight off my own downplayed fear.

"No." He answers. He lies. His eyes tell me he's petrified. He had no idea what is going on or why its happening.

I chuckle softly and pull his hands off from around my head. "I'm running out of time." I mutter.

"You're running out of time?" Isaac asks.

I nod slowly and gasp. The pain I feel sends my stomach into knots. I feel like I'm going to die right here. "You are going to save my life."

"How? What do you need me to do?" Isaac stammers. He jumps from the pilot's seat and looks down at me.

I scoff and my head falls forward. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I'll do whatever I have to." Isaac yells. He lifts my chin and my heart melts. Those sad tormented eyes look down at me.

"I'm not so sure." I argue. "It just doesn't seem right."

"It'll be fine. Just tell me." His pleas don't move me. As much as I would love to explain to him the dirty little secret that I have- I'm too embarrassed by the sheer idea of it.

I smile at his gratitude and shake my head. "I can hold out a little longer."

His brow furrows and his frustration becomes more apparent when he storms off towards the back of the cabin; leaving me alone with my thoughts.

* * *

Two weeks have passed since our escape. The inevitable boredom that we face on a day to day basis sends us into constant fights. Isaac mourns for his lost love; while I've been overcome with overwhelming pain. Some of the bouts are so paralyzing that Isaac fears that I will die in front of him. He pleads constantly to know what he is supposed to.

I always wave him off, trying to avoid it. The failed attempts at suicide that I'm putting myself through bother him. I've spent what time I do have trying to explain to him what I knew about the Ishimura and what led to the deaths of so many people. He tells me that he was stationed aboard it before and that he was the one that gave Nicole the go ahead to take the mission there.

When I had finally worked up the courage to tell him about Nicole and Chris he sat there listening to every word, taking it all in. Whether he believed me or not, I didn't care. It was something that needed to be told. We had grown close. Our mutual hatred for Unitology and the agreement that after this was all over we'd keep in contact with each other were some of the defining moments.

If things had been different maybe… no, it could never be. This damn order, the final one, the one that I don't want to go through with becomes a driving force in the pain. If Nicole had told me about this earlier I wouldn't have let her save me so many times. I can't put him through this. Not with the revelation about her. He hasn't had enough time to cope. Every time I deny the urge to follow through the pain comes back worse and exponentially so.

It pains me to watch Isaac watch me. I don't know how much more he can take it. The helplessness that drives him to pace and almost cry makes me cry for putting him through it.

* * *

"I would lay my life down." He says as he holds my hand.

I look at him with disdain. "Don't fucking say that!" I yell at him as I clench my teeth and moan. " You are important. I didn't go through what I did just for you to-" Sweat beads on my skin as I groan. I swivel my head up towards him. His face is surrounded by stars. I bite my lip and shudder. "I don't know how much more I can take."

"Damn it, Ondrea!" He snaps at me. "I'm-"

I jump from my seat and hold him. "You and I have been through enough." I look up at him and press my lips to his softly. He grunts and pulls back. He stares at me. His eyes are full of shock and dismay.

"What are you-?" He asks.

"I'm sorry." I answer. "I don't know what came over me." I jump up and make my way into the bathroom. I turn on the water and splash water on my face. I look at myself and see the subtle glow of red in my eyes. "Damn it." I blink and shake my head. I watch the running water and the door slides open. I turn around and Isaac is staring at me. "If you're mad at me-" I start.

Isaac shakes his head and starts towards me. He smiles. I cock my head and try to take a step back. The counter holds me in place; before I know it Isaac is inches away from me. He grabs my waist and pulls me close to him. In the air I can smell a scent. It's all encapsulating and I look up. Isaac bends down and kisses me hard.

I'm instantly paralyzed. I don't know what to do. My hands scramble to find something, anything to make him stop. He slowly slips his tongue in my mouth and touches the tip of mine and my knees start to buckle from the anxiety. He breaks his hold and my breath is gone.

"What are you doing?" I mutter.

"Following through on the final order." Isaac answers. I'm shocked and I look away from him bashful by his admission.

"How do you know what it is?" I stammer as I try to get passed him. I want to put distance between us. I don't want to do this to him. Not now. He steps aside and lets me through. I storm out of the bathroom and start pacing. It's not fair. It can't be fair. I look at Isaac and he's leaning in the doorway, watching me adoringly. His expression is that of a man who is enticed to take another bite of the forbidden apple. Isaac chuckles and takes a step towards me. I take a step back and my heart sinks like a stone.

"The whispering is intense, isn't it?" He asks.

"That's not the point." I exclaim. "I don't want to do this to you."

"Maybe I do." Isaac insists. "Maybe it's what we need." He takes another step forward, but I refuse to move. I'm going to stand my ground.

"You can't be serious." I scoff. "I don't need it."

"You want to live, right?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

I nod. "Yes, I want to live. But the price is too high and I'm-"

"Scared." Isaac responds. I turn my back to him. This can't be happening. I feel Isaac brush my shoulders with his hands and rest his face in the base of my neck. His hot breathe was sweet and moist. A rumbling in my gut punctuated the anticipation of where it is leading. His hands slowly slip under my top and rub my hips. Slow sweeping motions from top to bottom and up again going higher and higher with each pass.

"I don't know what to do." I stammer through the soft moans that he's creating in me. "I've never-"

"Shhh." His only response as he feels his way up to my breasts and then back down to my navel. "You're thinking about it too hard." He abruptly turns me around and kisses my forehead. He grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it over my head. I try to fold my arms in front of me and he smiles. He pulls me into him and starts to kiss me. His hands softly move up my back and find the metal clasp sheltering my breasts from him.

"I-" I stammer. He kisses my neck and unclasps it and I pull it off. I reach for his shirt and yank on it. Untucking it and feeling the muscles underneath it. "I just-" Everything starts to go dark and I become dizzy. The ringing returns but not like before. I close my eyes and feel as he starts to slip me out of my jumpsuit and lays me down on the floor. "Is this going to-" I mouth but no words come out.

Then the pain. The enormous amount of pain and pressure fills me and the soft grunt of Isaac above me causes me to open my eyes. I see the ceiling in front of me and feel the hard deck under my hips and this burning and tearing that I never thought I would experience. I groan under his weight as I try to adjust. He pauses and looks down at me and traces my body all the way down to my pelvis. I follow his glance and I start to panic. My eyes fill with tears at the sight of it. The blood that had smeared around him glistened faintly in the dim light - my blood.

"Hey, hey. It's alright." Isaac whispers as he slides back into me.

"Please don't hurt me." I plead in a small voice. Instinctively my hips meet his and fall again. Slowly I can feel myself going numb and giving way to the ecstasy that his penetration was giving me. My soft moans as he starts sliding in a faster rhythm fill the cabin. He grunts as he sits up and grabs my hips and starts bucking me hard. I gasp and flinch.

"Are you alright?" He asks coming to an abrupt stop.

I nod and smile as he leans down and brushes the few strands of hair out of my face. "I'm alright."

He smiles and leans in close to me. He kisses me and slowly starts again. My insides start growing tighter and tighter and He smiles through each rough kiss. His thrusts become rougher and his groans become louder. I can feel him pulsing within me. My body clenches around him and I scream out. My face becomes flushed and he starts to lose control. Violently he builds. He grunts and looks at me. My eyes lock on his and his face beads with sweat.

"_I've always wanted to do this." I hear Chris's voice in my head._

"_I don't know if this is going to save you." Nicole whispers._

The memories all flood back at once. The screaming and shrieking. The hateful words. The monster in the pit below. The Marker. All things that said I would be fine.

"Oh-" I gasp. Isaac's throbbing becoming pronounced.

"I'm-" He starts through his ragged breath.

His thrusts become more pronounced as he races towards the finish line. His jagged hip movement brings me closer to climax. I groan and gasp and I feel it inside. The explosion is nerve wracking and Isaac gasps as he pumps his fluids in me. He crashes onto me and shudders. He pulls me close to him and sighs. I lay there. My mind races with thoughts unable to enjoy the afterglow.

* * *

"_Mom! Dad!" I yell running into my quarters. I come to a screeching halt when I see what I have walked into. They turn to me and instantly attack. Their shrieks reverberate off of the walls._

"_You are important." Chris whispers._

"_The next step of evolution is now." Mercer cries._

"_Is he the sacrifice?" The hive mind asks._

"_I loved you, Isaac. I always loved you." Nicole sulks._

Everything turns into a deafening amount of voices and I open my eyes_. How long have I been out?_ I look over at Isaac. He's fallen asleep next to me. His arm is draped across me.

"Something is wrong." I grumble. I slowly slide away from Isaac and grab my clothes. He grunts his disapproval but doesn't wake up. I walk to the bathroom and look at myself. "I know that face."

"It wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be was it?" My reflection says to me.

"No. It wasn't." I mutter. I start pulling on my clothes and sigh. "It didn't work, did it?"

My reflection chuckles and smiles. "It did work." Her voice becoming more distorted with each word she utters. "Just not in the way you thought it was going to."

"I thought I was going to be free of this." I stammer and slam my fist on to the counter.

"You are free, silly. You are more important now than you ever thought possible." She says.

"I don't want to be important. I want to be me." I cry.

My reflection laughs hysterically as I walk out of the bathroom. I search for the first aid kit and find the scalpel that Isaac had stowed in there. I sit down on the floor and watch as he sleeps.

"I'm so sorry, Isaac." I tell him. "It didn't work."

* * *

Isaac stirs from his sleep and looks around for me. He turns around and catches sight of me and smiles. I try to smile back but I can't.

"What are you doing over there?" Isaac questions as he reaches for his pants.

"Nothing." I answer. I feel around my pocket for my pack of cigarettes and take them out. "It's empty. Damn it."

"What's wrong, Ondrea?" Isaac asks becoming shriller.

"Nothing." I respond. "I just wanted one last smoke before the end."

"The end?" He asks. "The end of what?"

I look at Isaac and silent tear drops slide down my face. "Me."

He starts to get up and I take the blade of the scalpel across my wrists. Two swift movements and it is done. Isaac grabs the blade and throws it aside, but the damage is already done. Rapidly I start to lose blood.

"Why are you doing this?" Isaac screams. He puts his hands over my wrists to try and stem the bleeding.

"Don't." I groan. "Don't."

"I'm not going to let you do this to yourself." He yells. He looks at me and he's visibly hurt; as if I'd sliced him instead.

"I didn't work." I state. My voice gets weaker and I lick my lips. "I don't-"

"Damn it, Ondrea. We were supposed to make it, remember?" He asks.

"Isaac." I call. "Look at me."

His eyes meet mine and his mouth drops open. "Your-"

I nod and shiver. "I wanted to survive this with you. I hoped that I would. Given the circumstances I should have died a long time ago. My only wish was that you survived."

"Bullshit, Ondrea." He growls.

"I love you, Isaac." I whisper. "In the couple of weeks that I've known you, well before leaving the Ishimura I knew."

My eye lids grow heavy and Isaac's grip gets tighter.

"Ondrea?" His voice rings in my ears. It echoes and finally ebbs.

_Sorry, Isaac. I know you wanted to save Nicole and you were let down by that. You were happy to survive and found someone that survived with you. I'm sorry it has to end this way, but if this is the way I am to save you, then so be it. _

_This is my final rescue attempt. The final order carried out. I'm so sorry for what is to come of you…_


End file.
